We were invited to another Syfy Q&A with some excellent insight - this time an interview with Luke MacFarlane, Hannah John-Kamen & Aaron Ashmore from Killjoys. The full transcript is below
Operator: At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Killjoys conference Call.
Gary Morgenstein, you may begin your conference.
Gary Morgenstein: Hi everyone, Syfy’s new scripted series about a trio of badass interplanetary bounty hunters, premiers this Friday June 19th at 9 and we’re delighted to have all three of the badasses with us today Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke Macfarlane. Welcome.
Luke Macfarlane: Hello.
Aaron Ashmore: Hi, guys.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi. Hi, hello
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Operator: Your first question comes from the Line of Jamie Ruby. Your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi. I really enjoyed the first two episodes that we’ve gotten to see. And all of you have really great chemistry together, was that kind of -- did it happened right away, can you talk about the first time you guys kind of met and work together as a group?
Luke Macfarlane: Sure. I mean, it’s always – and so much of it is credit due to the casting process, we had a really great casting director that took the time to really kind of do mix and matches. So as we’re sort of slowly assembling this group, we kind of auditioned with like various people and that’s always terribly nerve racking as an actor but I think ultimately it’s really a useful sort of thing to do. Because yes we got along from the beginning almost immediately, very similar sense of humor.
This is Luke Macfarlane by the way, I play D’avin.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, and I think that as far as chemistry and stuff like that, you know, you either have it or you don’t. That is something that obviously due to casting process and when they’re doing a show like this that obviously revolves around the characters having sort of dynamic chemistry, it’s really important. But, you know, sometimes you just really lockout and I think the three of us have become, you know, really good friends and we got along so, so well, and it’s kind of rare. So I think it’s special and I think that we all appreciate it and it’s kind of lucky too that you get three people that just get along so well.
Luke Macfarlane: It’s almost…
Hannah John-Kamen: And I think it’s a great – but it’s important to like have the chemistry on the screen and off. And I think that we all have the same sense of humor which really helps and…
Luke Macfarlane: Weird, weird. I think we’re all weird.
Hannah John-Kamen: Much fun. And we sing a lot too.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, we do, we make up songs on the set all the time.
Jamie Ruby: You got to release those, see
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, DVD extra, special behind the scenes.
Jamie Ruby: Yes, we hope you do.
Jamie Ruby: And then the other question I was going to ask is obviously we’ve only seen the first three but it seems like this group they don’t tend to always follow that rules that are set forth, is that going to become a problem or do the company just kind of doesn’t care as long as they get what they’re after?
Luke Macfarlane: It’s a good question. I think what is interesting with Killjoys is like, you know, there’s been a lot of comparisons to Firefly, that show. And what I think makes Killjoys really different as an entity and as a show is that we do have to abide by those rules.
So the tension exist within that sort of how far can you bend the rules. And I think that makes for an interesting thing, it’s not like we’re just rogue cowboys, we really – we really do have to operate with inside the system so that it becomes a sort of like doubly complicated way of sort of bending the things as far as we can but yes of course it becomes complicated because we don’t always abide by the rules.
Hannah John-Kamen: I mean, like the whole saying, is take no bribes, take no sides, to one is all, but it’s really hard when you’re put in a situation like Dutch in the first episode with John and D’avin and taking on that warrant and basically kind of saving people’s asses and kind of having that kind of morals – having those morals as well. They kind of gives that kind of dilemma and that conflict with the characters which I think is more interesting.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, and I think it shows their sort of intelligence and their creativity and their knowledge of this world and how we sort of – to circumvent some of these things and make it work and I think that that’s kind of interesting as well to see us doing those things.
Operator: Your next questions comes from the line of Robin Burks. Your line is open.
Aaron Ashmore: Hey, Robin.
Robin Burks: Hi, thanks for talking to us today.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Aaron Ashmore: It’s a pleasure.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi.
Robin Burks: I haven’t seen any of the episodes yet but I was wondering just for those of us who are going into it blindly, could you describe your characters?
Aaron Ashmore: Certainly.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, why don’t you go ahead first.
Aaron Ashmore: Hannah why don’t you start.
Hannah John-Kamen: OK. So Dutch, Dutch is a level-five Killjoy, which means she’s a top Killjoy, which means that she can kill for warrant. She lives on (Deluci) with John, and she’s known John the character for seven years. And Dutch has a really, really complicated past that is catching up with her in the current moment of when you start watching Killjoys. Dutch is also really, really badass, she’s very loyal, and (she feels over other) characters within the show, she’s very respected, and yes that kind of comes with her loyalty as well.
Luke Macfarlane: And she’s the leader, I think that’s important too.
Hannah John-Kamen: And the leader, yes, the leader, as a leader.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Most definitely our fearless leaders. I play – this is Aaron, I play John Jaqobis who’s a level-three Killjoy which basically means he’s not as sort of skilled and dangerous as Dutch in sort of the tactical and combat aspects of things. But I think John is a more of a – would lean towards more of a pacifist in this group where he is, you know, a little bit more willing to talk things through instead of, you know, shooting and asking questions later.
There’s also I think a really strong loyalty that lies in John and he’s completely dedicated to Dutch, they’re partners. But, you know, as we sort of said that Dutch is definitely the leader. And also that loyalty sort of we get to see (Rick’s) brother as well and they’ve been D’avin and John has been sort of estranged for eight or nine years.
And in the first episode we see them comeback together but loyalty is still really there with his brother, he wants to work things out, he wants to figure things out. And I think John sort of role in this team that we’re forming as the sort of hold it all together, I think he’s sort of the glue that’s trying to hold this team together. And yes that’s, you know, maybe more information than you needed but hopefully I get you started.
Luke Macfarlane: He’s Kofi Annan.
That might be a terrible analogy, I actually have now idea.
I’m D’avin, this is Luke Macfarlane, I play John’s older brother and I don’t join as a Killjoy, I sort of bump into John in the kind of weird sort of way and then we sort of you know, then I end up kind of sticking along with them for a ride. So as the show progresses I get very intrigued with the Killjoy myself.
My character is a former military man who tends to be a bit of a rogue kind of guy, probably less the military under sort of bad circumstances. And yes he’s immediately taken with Dutch and kind of the power that she possesses and her fight skills, yes. And I like D’avin a lot, he’s not very similar to me and that he is like kind of a bit of a super cocky bro, I wish I had more that in me but I’m not really like that.
Robin Burks: Sounds interesting. At the digital press tour last year we talked a little bit about how the ship is pretty much another character on this series, how does each of you kind of interact with that ship?
Aaron Ashmore: Well, I would say that John is sort of – does most of the work with Lucy although we all interact with her, in all the episodes we all sort of talked to her and stuff. But I think John is Lucy’s favorite and I think that’s sort of addressed at times, even thought John denies that. But he definitely, you know, works with her the most and fixes her and he’s definitely more of a tech guy.
So it’s really interesting to have a character that we work with so closely in such a big part of the show but we don’t’ really get to see her or her voice until the final product. So it’s really cool to see that character come alive when actors is finally sort of voicing it. And I think that you’re really going to enjoy it because it just is that really cool AI and she has a real sense of humor too, a real personality…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, she’s got a real personality.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: I think it’s really telling the way we all decide to interact with Lucy too. I don’t even bother to learn Lucy’s name until I, you know, the seventh episode, I just call her ship, which I think is sort of funny. But like kind of speak to I think our character’s ability to emphasize, you know, and John being sort of really good at that and being able to understand people I think a little bit better than me.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think Lucy kind of sets the team well as well, she’s so professional. And that there’s situations in the show where even though Lucy is a machine, you know, she’s a ship, she really helps us gets out of our own, you know, help our characters get out of a situation as much as she can. And yes, I mean, there’s a sense of humor as well and it’s really cool because it’s just supposing seeing that with her voice but with what she says is very, very humorous. So it’s a really cool character, really cool
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, I think fans will really like Lucy, I think she’ll be…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Robin Burks: Great, I can’t wait to see this first episode.
Operator your next question comes form the line of Heather McLatchy. Your line is open.
Heather McLatchy: Hi, everybody, thanks so much for talking to us today, I really enjoyed the first few episodes.
Aaron Ashmore: Great.
Hannah John-Kamen: Oh, great.
Luke Macfarlane: Thank you.
Heather McLatchy: And D’avin and Dutch kind of come into this, I’m not going spoil it for the folks who haven’t seen it, but they come into this and we sort of balanced their past with their present. And John seems to be pretty happy go lucky for lack of a better term, he doesn’t have something kind of hanging on for him. Will we see a balance of that through the course of the first season where D’avin and Dutch have to address the parts of their past that are still lingering for them?
Hannah John-Kamen: I think…
Luke Macfarlane: That’s a great question.
Hannah John-Kamen: That a great question – I mean, Dutch and D’avin, I mean, the relationship between Dutch and D’avin is very interesting because it’s starts off – I mean, I’m very, very, weary of this intruder coming into my situation with me and John. But then we seek out that we both have similarity and I think that gets – yet that gets me to a point where we have to address that. And I mean – you don’t have to wait too much but there is an unravel with that.
And Luke what do you….
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I know I think like any two people who have to sort of reconcile their pasts, they sort of clumsily reached for each other in a way to sort of I think because they identified a sort of thing in their past that they need to reconcile. And even though, you know, ultimately we might not be the best sort of (tell aid) to kind of get to whatever it is that sort of troubles our brains, we sort of reach out through each other in a way. And we do seek a certain level of conclusion or reconciliation, I think more on my part as far as, you know, this thing that happened to me in my past and how I try to take care of it. And much of that is due to, you know…
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re not very good at talking about our feelings…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, exactly.
Hannah John-Kamen: So we kind of – we kind of like he said like clumsy reach and kind of solve it in our own way.
Luke Macfarlane: Right. Yes.
Heather McLatchy: Great. Well, thank you so much, I think fans are really going to enjoy the show and I hope you have a fantastic first season. Thanks so much.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Luke Macfarlane: Thank you so much
Hannah John-Kamen: oh, thank you very much.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tom Gardiner. Your line is open.
Tom Gardiner: Thank you. Hi, badasses, how are you guys?
Aaron Ashmore: Good everything is fine
Hannah John-Kamen: Good.
Tom Gardiner: Look, I know Firefly already has been mentioned and you’re an original show but I believe these comparisons are really intended to be a complmentary and I wanted to know what you guys thought about, you know, the inevitable comparison that will come up along the way?
Aaron Ashmore: I think it’s fine because until people really get the personality of our show, it’s like that’s the easiest way to sort of understand something or put it out there as to sort of compare it with something. So I think that that’s totally fine. I think that people who are fans of Firefly, I think there are definitely some similarities just in the genre of the show, so I think that that’s great.
But I also think that Michelle Lovretta our creator and the whole creative team have also created their own unique world. And as much as there maybe some similarities in a broad sense I think the specifics of the show and characters and details are definitely going to become something all to themselves. So I think the comparison are like totally cool, I think it’s flattering too because as genre fan myself like Firefly is obviously, you know, one of the biggest shows, one of the most beloved shows so any comparison to that are cool.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I definitely think about that. I mean, that’s the way we understand things is by comparing them to each other, I mean it really is. I mean, my hope is that, yes, eventually it steps into its own unique thing and then one day they’ll compare us to something that we haven’t yet seen around the set.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, exactly.
Luke Macfarlane: But I would also say and I think I said this before but like, you know, Firefly was essentially a rouge group of individuals. The Killjoys operate within a system and I think to that is very, very deeply sort of what makes this different. We can’t do whatever we want whenever we want, we have to operate with inside the system called the (R.A.C.). And I think that’s really fundamental difference that makes the world actually fundamentally different.
Tom Gardiner: My next question is for Hannah or for any of you guys, you know the answer to this. But Dutch one of the interesting things about her is that she’s got a mysterious background, is that mysterious background going to be a large part of the story as it unfolds throughout the season?
Hannah John-Kamen: Sorry I’m losing a bit of speaker hits, can you just repeat that for me please?
Tom Gardiner: Sure. I said that, you know, Dutch has a mysteries background, will that be a large part of the story as it unfolds throughout the season?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, I mean, you see hints of it at the beginning of the season, of kind of how tough all of these catching up with her. As the show goes on it kind of seems more like a massive change. And yes absolutely you’re going to expect a lot of unraveling of Dutch, and her character, and her past, and why she – why she is where she is now. There’s going to be a lot of question after so there’s going to be more questions even, you know, as the show goes on.
Tom Gardiner: Also you guys look like a completely original show, was there any inspiration for this setup or was this completely original?
Aaron Ashmore: Well that’s something like probably Michelle Loveretta our creator would have more information about. So that’s kind of – I think it’s kind of hard for us to answer this. As far as working or like as far as I know, I think, you know, it was totally sort of an original creation.. But I’m sure that she being a fan of the genre, you know, it was, you know, it was influenced by all sort of things over the years. But it’s maybe hard for us to talk about exactly what those things were for her.
Luke Macfarlane: But as far as is it coming from a comic books, you know, absolutely not.
Tom Gardiner: One last question, what’s the good thing about going back to back schedule with Dark Matter, we going to have two ship based space shows all together in one night which I’m quite excited about? And what would you think about the possibilities of crossovers in the future?
Aaron Ashmore: Crossovers would be cool but I don’t know if they could handle us because we’re pretty dangerous so if we had to go head to head…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, we’re pretty badass.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. Of course anything like that would be really exciting actually, the crossing into another show even if it’s sort of like a, you know, a minor sort of thing.
Hannah John-Kamen: Mega cool.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I would also though think it’s like – it would be that funny thing of, you know, all of our characters kind of have, you know, big sense of humor and personality. And from my understanding of Dark Matter they are a little bit more sort of cold killer like, kind of – I don’t know if they’re funny so I think they might look at us like we’re a bunch of clowns.
But then we beat them up.
Aaron Ashmore: Dangerous killer clowns, that’s what we are.
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re clowns but then we’d beat them up definitely.
Luke Macfarlane: But then we beat them up and we steal their ship.
Aaron Ashmore: How funny are we now?
Hannah John-Kamen: Exactly.
Luke Macfarlane: Go back in your cryo freeze.
Aaron Ashmore: But yes it would totally be fun probably to do crossovers.
Luke Macfarlane: Very fun.
Tom Gardiner: Thank you so much for you time, I appreciate it.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: You next question comes from the line of Mynda Bullock. Your line is open.
Mynda Bullock: Hi, guys this is min – hi, this is Mynda. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some question for us. I’ve seen the first four episodes, and I thank you guys, it’s going to be really cool. It seem like a lot of fun to do the fight scenes you guys had, you have all these cool gadgets that either any of you have any favorite gadget that you work with or that you like to have in real life or in a fight?
Hannah John-Kamen: My guns, I felt like my guns was part of my limbs. I thought wig but my gun wasn’t there. I don’t know why, I just had this bond with my gun, I fell in love with my laser gun.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: I think we all had unhealthy attachments to our weapons by the time we’re done.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, certainly.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. And beautiful custom like leather leg harnesses were something I’ll wear as well, yes.
Aaron Ashmore: I think at a certain point the props guys would start asking us if they wanted us – to like to take the guns off us between scenes. And it sort of happen at a certain point where all of us were like no, no, no we prefer hanging on to them. And we’re very adamant about that so, yes, it was kind of that weird:
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, very cool…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, they were like, all right then, OK.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: That’s awesome.
Luke Macfarlane: Of course they can shoot lasers.
Mynda Bullock: How fun is that. What is with the green juice that you guys drink, what is it?
Hannah John-Kamen: Algae beer.
Aaron Ashmore: Algae beer which sort of took a backseat after the first episode because I think they’re like – and it’s so gross but that’s.
Hannah John-Kamen: It was so gross. But that’s…
Aaron Ashmore: What it though? It’s like coconut water mixed with something else, it was kind of lumpy.
Luke Macfarlane: They blended…
Aaron Ashmore: Spinach. So I think.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think it’s like a really healthy like L.A. smoothie or something but to be host I’m like mad on it. And then we have like algae buns as well that like you guys hey, I never got to eat it, it was made up like beans, isn’t it?
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, some sort of bean curd.
But I think that he spinach started to get stuck in our teach from the algae beer and like, you know, you just couldn’t have that in scenes so they’re like yes, we’re going to lose that because you guys are all smiling in those green junks…
Hannah John-Kamen: So it was pumpkin beers. So yes we kind of changed it to pumpkin instead of algae.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes. I’m glad you asked about that. I actually asked the writers a similar question, where did the algae beer go, it’s stuck in his teeth.
Hannah John-Kamen: Where the L.A. smoothie has gone.
Mynda Bullock: So one last question, are you guys going tweet it from here, everyone would love to speak with you?
Aaron Ashmore: I’m going try – I’m going to try and do that for sure – well, I’m not going to try, I am going to do that, yes. The only thing…
Hannah John-Kamen: I’m going to do that.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, but your time zone, you’re going to be, you know, Hannah is going to be like in the middle of the night when we’re airing.
Hannah John-Kamen: I’m going to be – I’m dedicated.
Aaron Ashmore: What’s commitment?
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s going to be 3:00 in the morning for me. I going to have a wedding to go to the next day but I should be up in the morning.
Aaron Ashmore: How can we offer commitment?
Luke Macfarlane: That’s making me feel very bad because I haven’t – I don’t have a Twitter.
Mynda Bullock: Oh, you don’t have a Twitter.
Luke Macfarlane: I don’t.
Aaron Ashmore: But don’t be – it’s not for everyone, it’s truly not.
Hannah John-Kamen: Not for everyone.
Aaron Ashmore: No.
Luke Macfarlane: I have two, you know, I have two – I don’t have fingers, how about that.
Aaron Ashmore: Those are all PG in the show.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: All right, thank you very much.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Lisa Macklem. Your line is open.
Lisa Macklem: Hi, guys.
Aaron Ashmore: Hi, Lisa.
Lisa Macklem: Thanks so much for talking with us, I really enjoyed the premier. And just a quick aside, Luke I’m actually calling from London, Ontario so…
Luke Macfarlane: You’re kidding me.
Lisa Macklem: No, I’m not kidding.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh, that’s fantastic. My mother wish I was there right now.
Lisa Macklem: Oh, well, it’s very humid, so maybe not.
Luke Macfarlane: Not as humid as Richmond, Virginia I’m sure.
Lisa Macklem: No, probably not.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Lisa Macklem: So I was wondering about the stunts and the fighting are great and you guys do a lot of gadgets and all that stuff, did you have any special training going in or how did that work?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, like we all had stunt training, military training, and physical training as well. And the stunt coordinator was called (Alam), and (Alex) and (Allison) and kind of see what we can. So during the week before and off the scenes and kind of plan out with that stunt double, the fight sequence, and it was so much fun, it was so much fun.
Luke Macfarlane: It really was.
Hannah John-Kamen: One of my favorite parts, yes.
Luke Macfarlane: No, it was kind of this, you know, when I first gone to the business there is a sort of mythological idea that you have like an action show, that you’re a trainer. And I remember hearing the, I mean like cool. And this is actually the first time that I was – ever got a trainer. We worked out and, you know, they took pictures of our shortlist which they sent to the producers. It was like – I mean, it’s always like this badass thing that I like wanted to have and they did it, and it was great, you know, it was really great, it was a great excuse to sort of workout.
Aaron Ashmore: And the physical stuff that we got to do at the beginning, the military stuff, the working out, the fight training is really kind of neat because the three of us didn’t know each other so we’re sort of thrown into all these really intense training together. And I think that it’s kind of fun when you start on it and it’s a good way to sort of bond with your fellow actors through all this training and physical stuff. And we really get to know each other. And everybody was sort of slightly out of their elements because none of us are martial artist or anything like that. So you’re all thrown into this new experience in doing it together and yes it was actually a lot of fun.
Hannah John-Kamen: We bonded pretty violent.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Oh, my goodness.
Lisa Macklem: Do you guys get to do a lot of your stunts?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, I think we all did them, didn’t we?
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: For sure. And obviously there’s stunt doubles for stuff that, you know, they don’t want you to get hurt and all that but they actually let us do a lot of it ourselves.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, they did. We had amazing stunt doubles. And speaking of London, Ontario. My mother came to set one day when my stun double was acting. And then my, you know, the stunt double do the scene, and, you know, the actors do the scene. And obviously the camera operators are a little more inclined to show your faces. My mother says in front of the stunt double, I think you did a much better job as he did. And I said mom, that’s absolutely incorrect, he’s amazing. But, you know, moms will be moms.
Aaron Ashmore: She’s just so proud of her boy.
Luke Macfarlane: She was so proud of ass-kicking boy.
Lisa Macklem: That’s adorable. I got a quick question and maybe just a little bit more detail about your characters. I know sometimes actors work a background for themselves, can you tell us something about your character that maybe only you know about your character?
Hannah John-Kamen: Something – So I didn’t heard the last part, sorry.
Lisa Macklem: Something that only you know about your character, maybe something that you made up for yourselves for background?
Luke Macfarlane: Sure.
Aaron Ashmore: I think for myself – oh sorry, go ahead Luke.
Luke Macfarlane: Well, you know, not to get too dark but I think that I think that John and D’avin’s father, I think he used to beat up D’avin.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. I mean, that’s interesting too because like we’d never discussed anything like that and there’s nothing in the show like that. But I had, you know, thought of similar things like John and D’avin’s background. You know, we don’t really get into the details of it in the show but it was very, very difficult so I sort of thought of things like that too about scenarios, about – and I sort of pictured that too that D’avin was the, you know, the older brother and so he probably took a brunt of a lot of that growing up. And probably was protecting John, so for me there’s slightly guilt dripping in some of those potential things about, you know, it’s kind of dark, it’s kind of dark.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: But I thought a lot of those things too but we didn’t really discuss that stuff and it’s not on the – it’s not on the page but…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, in season one.
Aaron Ashmore: But hey, the show is still fun, it’s not all dark
Lisa Macklem: OK, last question and a happier one. So is there a really funny scene that stands out in your mind that we would be looking for?
Aaron Ashmore: Say, again, did you say a really funny scene?
Lisa Macklem: Yes. Your favorite funny scene that we should be looking for.
Aaron Ashmore: Kind of think back to all the stuff.
Hannah John-Kamen: OK, that’s very much the stuff that happened kind of on camera that makes me laugh. Funny scenes.
Luke Macfarlane: Gosh. Oh, I know something to look that I think is very funny. In a much later episode John comes in contact with a super computer and he gets really excited about that super computer.
So I’m just going say that much, I laughed really hard when I saw that.
Aaron Ashmore: Good, I’m so glad. So John’s nerdiness that you find – that’s good I like that.
I think this is a lot of – I think the sense of humor, the show is not necessarily like always ha, ha funny like knee slapper, I think it’s sort of subtle and it’s really in the sort of way that these characters sort of tease each other or interact with each other. So I think it’s just so peppered throughout the show this sort of current of humor on the way that they sort of gab at each other. So I think to me that’s really where the humor lies, it’s not like, oh my God there’s this one hilarious like comic scene. It’s really the tone of the way these people rib each other and tease each other that to me is where the sense of humor really lies.
Luke Macfarlane: Right, right. Yes.
Lisa Macklem: Thanks so much I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.
Aaron Ashmore: Awesome, thank you so much.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tim Holquinn. Your line is open.
Tim Holquinn: Hi, thanks for speaking with us today.
Aaron Ashmore: Hey, Tim, thanks.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Tim Holquinn: Hi. I was wondering if each of you could share something about each of your co-stars that surprised you the most perhaps their, you know, their personality or their process anything that comes to mind.
Aaron Ashmore: Oh, telling tales on each other, oh my goodness. I was surprised at both of – and I was very pleasantly surprised at how sort of funny and not just funny but weird both Luke and Hannah’s sense of humor.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think yes, yes
Aaron Ashmore: Because, you know, and I think that’s one of the really unique things about the three of us together is that we’re just so weird. And our sense of humor is just kin of rip off each other and so I was really pleasantly surprised to see how strange their sense of humor were and then how as a whole bonded together.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, definitely, it’s like…
Hannah John-Kamen: Like I think it’s the sense of humor. Because on set like one of us is like saying something with and then without even any questions the other one would join in and then it wouldn’t start for like an hour.
Aaron Ashmore: In harmony nonetheless.
Hannah John-Kamen: In harmony. That was like surprise to me is kind of like similar to Aaron this kind of crazy sense of humor, no questions asked just really join in.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. And that’s not always the case right, you know, the way that you - the things that you think are funnier, the things that really sort of tickle you have other people that you’re working with and it’s flows, that was sort of really surprising and lucky I think.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes.
Tim Holquinn: OK. And yes action oriented show sometimes the actors will use mood suitor conjure up certain mental queues to kind of inspire them to kind of pump them up for the intense action scenes. Do either of you have device that you utilize?
Luke Macfarlane: Cool. I didn’t use any of that, not for myself.
Hannah John-Kamen:L No.
Aaron Ashmore: I find like emotional scenes sometimes that works better, you know, like to set the mood if it’s sad or anger or something. But the action stuff is sort of like you’re just thrown in and you got to run or you got to kick butt it’s like – it’s sometimes that’s not the hardest thing to sort of motivate yourselves into. But sometimes for emotional scenes that works a little bit better to just kind of put you in a place emotionally.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, definitely. In fact thinking about, you know, thinking about the first fight scene that we filmed which is John and I in the cage fight right at the beginning, it was so amazing to have that whole crowd of people around us yelling just that was sort of enough to get us into the mood. Like it was really cool to have 100 or whatever extras all screaming, they don’t know what the show is, they don’t know what they’re screaming for. But still…
Aaron Ashmore. It was interesting too I remember we did a first take right after lunch and everybody was still kind of coming back from lunch, they just had something to eat, everybody was kind of quite. And then Chris Grismer our director was like, OK, guys we’re back from lunch, I need you to like screen and yell. And then when we did another take it sort of changed everything because when you have like a 100 people sort of like screaming and like beating on the cage like that sort of energy really amp everything up for us. And, you know, yes, that was really cool actually.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. I think for me I just literally went in there and just basically kick some butt in the scenes.
Aaron Ashmore: Hannah needs no inspiration she’s just…
Hannah John-Kamen: I think (inaudible)…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, she got…
Hannah John-Kamen: … So all of these guys knows like, right, you’re all done.
Tim Holquinn: OK. One last question, once you realized that you had gotten the job that you’re going to play a bounty hunter, did you do any like research and perhaps find that you had a favorite real life fictional bounty hunter that you might have drawn inspiration from?
Aaron Ashmore: My dad is a big “Dog The Bounty Hunter” fan so I just – and I already watched a ton of Dog. But that’s not – that’s not really what we’re going for here so I kind of did the opposite that I strip away anything that I’d seen from Dog and decided to just go off the script.
Luke Macfarlane: That was wise.
Hannah John-Kamen: To me I think like – I think…
Luke Macfarlane: He came with a mullet the first day.
Aaron Ashmore: I should, the mullet, I got rid of that pretty quick.
Hannah John-Kamen: I don’t know, I think for me I just basically did like character research and building on more of this character building with Michelle and Chris Grismer where we had meeting. And the skills come with the training and within the character. But for me it was kind of who is Dutch first before what does that do.
Aaron Ashmore: Totally.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. I remember feeling very entered to this, I had, you know, I think both Hannah and Aaron had experience in Sci-Fi world, I was like intimated, I’ve never done in Sci-Fi world, so I actually watched a lot of Sci-Fi programming thinking that like, you know, oh, I’m going to be interacting with these people and fans that know kind of the Sci-Fi world much more deeply than I do and I don’t want to look like irreverent to their genre.
Tim Holquinn: Well that was probably a good decision.
Luke Macfarlane: Everything.
Tim Holquinn: All right, well it was a real treat to get to speak with you today. Thank you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Claire Pratt). Your line is open.
(Claire Pratt): Hi, guys, I hope you – hi guys.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
(Claire Pratt): Hi, thank you for speaking with us today. I haven’t gone to see the episode yet but I’ve seen some clips and it looks awesome so I’m really excited.
Aaron Ashmore: Cool.
Hannah John-Kamen: Great.
(Claire Pratt): I was just wondering, if we were in space right now, what would be your kind of space dream job, like could you be a pilot, or a bounty hunter, or an explorer or what would you like to do if we live in space?
Luke Macfarlane: Oh, gosh, that’s…
Aaron Ashmore: We’re already in space.
Hannah John-Kamen: Maybe like for me – for me I just love to be like a – maybe like a ship like engineer so I actually get to go out in space with my space suite.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, do the space walk.
.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. Actually something to do with being completely in space, in space.
Luke Macfarlane: I would like to be like the curator of like a space museum. And like I would like to talk to people about like the history of space. And I have this like really cool like museum, and like, you know, “Many years ago we have the challenger.” And that was a terrible thing, they have like a tutorial, teach the people the history of space.
Hannah John-Kamen: The battle.
Luke Macfarlane: The battle, yes, the great old battle of….
Hannah John-Kamen: The great battle..
Luke Macfarlane: And (Jules) burn that – yes, that’s what I would do.
Hannah John-Kamen: Alright, do that
(Claire Pratt): All right, that sounds cool. So if you could travel anywhere – if you could travel anywhere in outer space where would you want to go?
Aaron Ashmore: To a planet where there’s alien life maybe.
(Claire Pratt): OK, cool.
Aaron Ashmore: Wherever is that, I don’t know the name of it unfortunately, I can’t be that specific but…
Luke Macfarlane: If you could I would be…
Aaron Ashmore: Very impressed. I would be wasting my skills as an actor if I could tell you where that is
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s hard, there’s not a lot of place that you could go. That phone is really loud.
Hello.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby. Your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi, again guys. So you guys talked about some of the – I’m sorry, my dog is barking. Talked about some the comedic moments and I know Aaron you said they’re more subtle. But you guys have some great lines, do you guys have any favorite lines that you said in the show?
Aaron Ashmore: I like when I…
Hannah John-Kamen: Mine is the crashy two hander.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh the old crashy two hander.
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s the crashy two hander line I think for me because I think it’s just cool.
Jamie Ruby: OK.
Aaron Ashmore: I like my – in the first scene of the first episode there’s a great line where one of the characters asked me if it’s, you know, if it’s uncomfortable walking around because I have such big balls and I’m like yes there’s some chasing. I think that kind of funny and like that’s sort of a tone of the show, the subtlety of the humor sometimes, I just think that’s kind of quite humor.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, that was very funny yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: That was wonderful. Luke.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh gosh, I don’t know, I mean there’s this, I’m not sure if this was in the episode that you saw but we need some nuns and they have done what I thought was very funny..
Aaron Ashmore: I know a line Luke of yours that I really like and it sort of speaks to the, you know, the character, the difference in the characters and stuff like that. John is, you know, he’s trying to do something in a scientific sort of way and he gets himself in trouble and Luke’s character, I can’t remember the exact lines but he’s like, see what id I tell you like science is dumb, you know, these sort of characters.
Luke Macfarlane: I remember being very concerned about that line because I’m going alienate our audience. Like I think these people that watch the show are going to like science and they’re going to hate me.
Aaron Ashmore: No, no because it’s like very funny. But you don’t come across as dumb, it’s a really funny sort of character I think…
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s funny.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, it’s funny.
Jamie Ruby: All right, and then as a follow-up we know that obviously Dutch has a lot of secrets and Luke also kind of about what’s happened in his past in the war and everything, so Aaron my question is does John have any kind of secrets that we’re going to be finding out about?
Aaron Ashmore: In this first season not really. And I think that that’s kind of that sort of needs to be that way because the whole thing is that, you know, Dutch and D’avin have these two secrets that are sort of holding the team apart because they’re not really wanting to share those and trying to deal with all these things by themselves. And it causes a lot of strain on the team and I think John’s position in this first season is to like his main, you know, purpose in the show and, you know, his goal is to keep the team together because they’re sort of just ripping each other apart.
So I think if you then throw, you know, John into the mix where he got things, I think it would be a bit convoluted and a bit sort of like, you know, you needed somebody who was just, you know not being torn apart by all these stuff to kind of keep it together. So I hope that in if we get other season that we’ll get to start to see, you know, a little bit of John’s past and the things that he had to go through, the difficulties and stuff.
So I really hope that we will get to do that but I think in this season it would have been a bit much to sort of have all three of them really, you know, trying to explore these dark secret and stuff.
Jamie Ruby: Hopefully we’ll see more next.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Jamie Ruby: All right, thanks so much guys.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Robin Burks. Your line is open.
Robin Burks: Hello again. What has been your favorite part about working on Killjoys so far?
Hannah John-Kamen: To me honestly I think there’s a shoot – the amount of fun I had off screen and off. I mean the set have been amazing, I think the fighting as well for to me which has been so cool. But I think with like Aaron and Luke they’re just so amazing to work with. They just made the whole time and experience just, you know, just ejected with fun.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s really true. You often hear actors talking about, “Oh, you know, we all like so much.” But really legitimately it was like a real – a really great group, like I love showing up to work, it was wonderful.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: And just to use your imagination in a really profound way. You know, it’s not often that you get to in kind of scripts where you’re required to imagine so much and that it makes you feel like a kid again when you’re looking out the window of your spaceship and you seen a green screen having to imagine what’s on that, you know, often your job is sort of entering into a living room with cup of tea. So you can use your imagination that massive way is super fun.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, I agree, I think, you know, first and foremost not just like as the actors but the whole creative team and the whole crew, I think everybody really, really enjoyed themselves. And again that’s not, you know, we’re working in such a fun business and that, but the experiences are not always amazing, amazing. And I think like on a personal level the fun of working with everybody was way, way up there.
I think another thing for me was getting to start on a show, I’ve done lots of shows where I kind of come into them while they’re already been successful and then become a lead on the show or reoccurring. But to come in to a show from the very start and feel like you’re really, really part of something.
And like Luke was saying, it’s just not really part of something where it set in New York or wherever where we know everything but we’re really getting to explore and create the world and this characters that nobody seen before. You know, coming from Michelle’s imagination and the writers and then we really get to inhabit these places that don’t exist, and these societies, these cultural levels and stuff that are not real in real life. So who gets to do that, some people get to fantasize and get to think about those things but we actually get to sort of act them out and create them. And that’s been the really, really exciting thing that very few people get to do, so it’s a lot of fun.
Luke Macfarlane: I remember the first time we all were on the cockpit together, you know, and we’ve been watching the ships get build because we’re filming on our station and we see them and like, “Cool, that’s our spaceship.”
And then all the sudden we were on the spaceship and they build this beautiful thing but nobody knew how to drive it and we got to make up how to drive the ship. And we got to imagine what button to your press to try to make it go up and make it go round and that’s like thrilling.
Jamie Ruby: OK, let’s turn that around and what challenges did you face when filming the first season?
Luke Macfarlane: I was just going to say, you know, it’s a small cast and we all worked a lot, it was really long hours. You know, sometimes when cast of shows are bigger and there’s more sort of screen time to go around but this is, you know, very equality spread among three people so we had really long days.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: To me I think like the challenges at the begging, I remember when we had this gun and it was so heavy. And I think it actual kind of like getting to use to it, the equipment and the armor, and making it look like I’ve been carrying this gun for years. I mean I think for me it was – it was really embodying a killer, as a bounty hunter, and getting used to, you know, the kind of physical way of that.
Aaron Ashmore: I think for me and even up until very recently I felt this way throughout the whole season, so you’re really excited to do this, this is an amazing opportunity. But, you know, you’re really like, I hope that we do all of this justice, I hope that all this hard work that we do and we put in, you know, that it pays off, that people really enjoy it.
Because like again, you know, we’re not just doing a cop show where we’re emulating something that’s already out there and people will buy into it. We’re creating a whole new world and so you’re just like the tone of things you really want to get right and you really wanted to create something that people are going to – characters and a world that’s believable and people are going to buy into.
And, you know, that’s just, you know, comes with the genre, I think that that’s there’s a lot of actual work that you have to do and pressure that’s sort of put on you because it’s like people have to buy into this. It’s not easy as thing to buy into and the Sci-Fi audience is very discerning, they’re very intelligent, and you want them to like it, you want them to really buy into this world that you’re inhabiting and creating.
So that’s, you know, there’s some pressure in that and that doesn’t just fall on us obviously as the actors, that’s sort of, you know, as production what we all have to accomplish together. But after seeing the show I feel very confident and very proud of the work that everybody did and I’m really hoping that everybody is going to enjoy it.
Luke Macfarlane: That’s really good point, yes. And specially being aware of I think there is more reverence sort of the intelligence of the audience in this genre than any other genre I think I’ve worked in and wanting to do them, to do them right.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Jamie Ruby: Thank you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Kris Kwan). Your line is open.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi, (Kris).
(Kris Kwan): Hi everybody, thanks for talking to us.
Aaron Ashmore: No problem, no problem.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
(Kris Kwan): So Killjoys is created by the creator of Lost Girl Michelle Lavretta and it’s produced by the producers of Orphan Black, (Temple Street), and I’m a huge fan of those shows and really looking forward to Killjoys. So what do you think fans of those shows would like about Killjoys?
Aaron Ashmore: Well, obviously they’re, you know, coming from the same sensibility, the same minds, so I think obviously our show is going to be very different because the content and the world and stuff that we’re in but it’s still coming fro the people who have the same sensibility who make those other shows that obviously tons and tons of people enjoyed. So it’s kind of hard to say exactly what it is but I think that the sensibility are going to be the same. So hopefully that, you know, the things that you enjoy about those other shows, they’ll be, you know, assembled in our show as well.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Speaking a little bit about Lost Girl, I think there’s something about, you know, not to be sort of lied about it but there’s a sort of sense of female empowerment that I think is definitely something that’s really strong (in viewers), strong female characters that aren’t just, you know, strong for the sake, you know, that they beat people up but they also, you know, they’re very comfortable with their sexuality. Michelle writes a lot about sexuality in a really I think unique way that sort of very different than most TV sort of characters have sex and not feel ashamed about it. So, yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. And wow there’s not really kind of a big thing about sex, sexuality. I think the thing is any women can do any man (inaudible), any man can see the bus.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s kind of, you know, there’s this massive freedom there.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
(Kris Kwan): Sounds great. Thanks. Also you guys just talked about this a little bit but – and I know Aaron is probably used to it by now but are you guys ready for the vintage genre fans you’re about to have.
Luke Macfarlane: Bring it on.
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re ready.
Luke Macfarlane: I would love…
Hannah John-Kamen: Bring it on.
Luke Macfarlane: I would love it.
I have a lot of flight attendant sort of fans right now, I like to sort of broaden my fan base.
Yes.
(Kris Kwan): Great, thank you guys very much.
Aaron Ashmore: So Luke you get upgraded at everything.
Luke Macfarlane: I often get like – they’re like, “Oh, you know, the first class wine is a little bit better than the coach wine. Let me see if I can scrounge a glass for you.
Aaron Ashmore: That’s exactly a bonus.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s very nice..
Hannah John-Kamen: Nice.
Gary Morgenstein: We have time for one more – one more question please.
Operator: Your final question comes from the line of Mynda Bullock. Your line is open.
Mynda Bullock: Hi, guys, it’s Mynda again. Luke I have a question for you, we talked previously about Dutch’s past and what’s going on with her. But what can you tell us a little bit about D’avin’s search for the military doctor and whether his search will come to a resolution this season?
Luke Macfarlane: Well, he’s definitely looking for this person all the way through the show and, gosh, I don’t know how much I should tease but yes he finds her, he finds her. And that she is a her. And eyes I think it’s really interesting because, you know, there’s sort of a lot of comparisons that I think that a lot of soldiers, you know, returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are encountering like sort of how to reconcile with their sort of violent past and, you know, I think it’s a great story line. But he does, he does get I think more completion and closure than Dutch does
Mynda Bullock: OK.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: Thank you.
Gary Morgenstein: Thank you everyone, thank you HOperator: At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Killjoys conference Call.
Gary Morgenstein, you may begin your conference.
Gary Morgenstein: Hi everyone, Syfy’s new scripted series about a trio of badass interplanetary bounty hunters, premiers this Friday June 19th at 9 and we’re delighted to have all three of the badasses with us today Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke Macfarlane. Welcome.
Luke Macfarlane: Hello.
Aaron Ashmore: Hi, guys.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi. Hi, hello
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Operator: Your first question comes from the Line of Jamie Ruby. Your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi. I really enjoyed the first two episodes that we’ve gotten to see. And all of you have really great chemistry together, was that kind of -- did it happened right away, can you talk about the first time you guys kind of met and work together as a group?
Luke Macfarlane: Sure. I mean, it’s always – and so much of it is credit due to the casting process, we had a really great casting director that took the time to really kind of do mix and matches. So as we’re sort of slowly assembling this group, we kind of auditioned with like various people and that’s always terribly nerve racking as an actor but I think ultimately it’s really a useful sort of thing to do. Because yes we got along from the beginning almost immediately, very similar sense of humor.
This is Luke Macfarlane by the way, I play D’avin.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, and I think that as far as chemistry and stuff like that, you know, you either have it or you don’t. That is something that obviously due to casting process and when they’re doing a show like this that obviously revolves around the characters having sort of dynamic chemistry, it’s really important. But, you know, sometimes you just really lockout and I think the three of us have become, you know, really good friends and we got along so, so well, and it’s kind of rare. So I think it’s special and I think that we all appreciate it and it’s kind of lucky too that you get three people that just get along so well.
Luke Macfarlane: It’s almost…
Hannah John-Kamen: And I think it’s a great – but it’s important to like have the chemistry on the screen and off. And I think that we all have the same sense of humor which really helps and…
Luke Macfarlane: Weird, weird. I think we’re all weird.
Hannah John-Kamen: Much fun. And we sing a lot too.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, we do, we make up songs on the set all the time.
Jamie Ruby: You got to release those, see
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, DVD extra, special behind the scenes.
Jamie Ruby: Yes, we hope you do.
Jamie Ruby: And then the other question I was going to ask is obviously we’ve only seen the first three but it seems like this group they don’t tend to always follow that rules that are set forth, is that going to become a problem or do the company just kind of doesn’t care as long as they get what they’re after?
Luke Macfarlane: It’s a good question. I think what is interesting with Killjoys is like, you know, there’s been a lot of comparisons to Firefly, that show. And what I think makes Killjoys really different as an entity and as a show is that we do have to abide by those rules.
So the tension exist within that sort of how far can you bend the rules. And I think that makes for an interesting thing, it’s not like we’re just rogue cowboys, we really – we really do have to operate with inside the system so that it becomes a sort of like doubly complicated way of sort of bending the things as far as we can but yes of course it becomes complicated because we don’t always abide by the rules.
Hannah John-Kamen: I mean, like the whole saying, is take no bribes, take no sides, to one is all, but it’s really hard when you’re put in a situation like Dutch in the first episode with John and D’avin and taking on that warrant and basically kind of saving people’s asses and kind of having that kind of morals – having those morals as well. They kind of gives that kind of dilemma and that conflict with the characters which I think is more interesting.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, and I think it shows their sort of intelligence and their creativity and their knowledge of this world and how we sort of – to circumvent some of these things and make it work and I think that that’s kind of interesting as well to see us doing those things.
Operator: Your next questions comes from the line of Robin Burks. Your line is open.
Aaron Ashmore: Hey, Robin.
Robin Burks: Hi, thanks for talking to us today.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Aaron Ashmore: It’s a pleasure.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi.
Robin Burks: I haven’t seen any of the episodes yet but I was wondering just for those of us who are going into it blindly, could you describe your characters?
Aaron Ashmore: Certainly.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, why don’t you go ahead first.
Aaron Ashmore: Hannah why don’t you start.
Hannah John-Kamen: OK. So Dutch, Dutch is a level-five Killjoy, which means she’s a top Killjoy, which means that she can kill for warrant. She lives on (Deluci) with John, and she’s known John the character for seven years. And Dutch has a really, really complicated past that is catching up with her in the current moment of when you start watching Killjoys. Dutch is also really, really badass, she’s very loyal, and (she feels over other) characters within the show, she’s very respected, and yes that kind of comes with her loyalty as well.
Luke Macfarlane: And she’s the leader, I think that’s important too.
Hannah John-Kamen: And the leader, yes, the leader, as a leader.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Most definitely our fearless leaders. I play – this is Aaron, I play John Jaqobis who’s a level-three Killjoy which basically means he’s not as sort of skilled and dangerous as Dutch in sort of the tactical and combat aspects of things. But I think John is a more of a – would lean towards more of a pacifist in this group where he is, you know, a little bit more willing to talk things through instead of, you know, shooting and asking questions later.
There’s also I think a really strong loyalty that lies in John and he’s completely dedicated to Dutch, they’re partners. But, you know, as we sort of said that Dutch is definitely the leader. And also that loyalty sort of we get to see (Rick’s) brother as well and they’ve been D’avin and John has been sort of estranged for eight or nine years.
And in the first episode we see them comeback together but loyalty is still really there with his brother, he wants to work things out, he wants to figure things out. And I think John sort of role in this team that we’re forming as the sort of hold it all together, I think he’s sort of the glue that’s trying to hold this team together. And yes that’s, you know, maybe more information than you needed but hopefully I get you started.
Luke Macfarlane: He’s Kofi Annan.
That might be a terrible analogy, I actually have now idea.
I’m D’avin, this is Luke Macfarlane, I play John’s older brother and I don’t join as a Killjoy, I sort of bump into John in the kind of weird sort of way and then we sort of you know, then I end up kind of sticking along with them for a ride. So as the show progresses I get very intrigued with the Killjoy myself.
My character is a former military man who tends to be a bit of a rogue kind of guy, probably less the military under sort of bad circumstances. And yes he’s immediately taken with Dutch and kind of the power that she possesses and her fight skills, yes. And I like D’avin a lot, he’s not very similar to me and that he is like kind of a bit of a super cocky bro, I wish I had more that in me but I’m not really like that.
Robin Burks: Sounds interesting. At the digital press tour last year we talked a little bit about how the ship is pretty much another character on this series, how does each of you kind of interact with that ship?
Aaron Ashmore: Well, I would say that John is sort of – does most of the work with Lucy although we all interact with her, in all the episodes we all sort of talked to her and stuff. But I think John is Lucy’s favorite and I think that’s sort of addressed at times, even thought John denies that. But he definitely, you know, works with her the most and fixes her and he’s definitely more of a tech guy.
So it’s really interesting to have a character that we work with so closely in such a big part of the show but we don’t’ really get to see her or her voice until the final product. So it’s really cool to see that character come alive when actors is finally sort of voicing it. And I think that you’re really going to enjoy it because it just is that really cool AI and she has a real sense of humor too, a real personality…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, she’s got a real personality.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: I think it’s really telling the way we all decide to interact with Lucy too. I don’t even bother to learn Lucy’s name until I, you know, the seventh episode, I just call her ship, which I think is sort of funny. But like kind of speak to I think our character’s ability to emphasize, you know, and John being sort of really good at that and being able to understand people I think a little bit better than me.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think Lucy kind of sets the team well as well, she’s so professional. And that there’s situations in the show where even though Lucy is a machine, you know, she’s a ship, she really helps us gets out of our own, you know, help our characters get out of a situation as much as she can. And yes, I mean, there’s a sense of humor as well and it’s really cool because it’s just supposing seeing that with her voice but with what she says is very, very humorous. So it’s a really cool character, really cool
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, I think fans will really like Lucy, I think she’ll be…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Robin Burks: Great, I can’t wait to see this first episode.
Operator your next question comes form the line of Heather McLatchy. Your line is open.
Heather McLatchy: Hi, everybody, thanks so much for talking to us today, I really enjoyed the first few episodes.
Aaron Ashmore: Great.
Hannah John-Kamen: Oh, great.
Luke Macfarlane: Thank you.
Heather McLatchy: And D’avin and Dutch kind of come into this, I’m not going spoil it for the folks who haven’t seen it, but they come into this and we sort of balanced their past with their present. And John seems to be pretty happy go lucky for lack of a better term, he doesn’t have something kind of hanging on for him. Will we see a balance of that through the course of the first season where D’avin and Dutch have to address the parts of their past that are still lingering for them?
Hannah John-Kamen: I think…
Luke Macfarlane: That’s a great question.
Hannah John-Kamen: That a great question – I mean, Dutch and D’avin, I mean, the relationship between Dutch and D’avin is very interesting because it’s starts off – I mean, I’m very, very, weary of this intruder coming into my situation with me and John. But then we seek out that we both have similarity and I think that gets – yet that gets me to a point where we have to address that. And I mean – you don’t have to wait too much but there is an unravel with that.
And Luke what do you….
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I know I think like any two people who have to sort of reconcile their pasts, they sort of clumsily reached for each other in a way to sort of I think because they identified a sort of thing in their past that they need to reconcile. And even though, you know, ultimately we might not be the best sort of (tell aid) to kind of get to whatever it is that sort of troubles our brains, we sort of reach out through each other in a way. And we do seek a certain level of conclusion or reconciliation, I think more on my part as far as, you know, this thing that happened to me in my past and how I try to take care of it. And much of that is due to, you know…
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re not very good at talking about our feelings…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, exactly.
Hannah John-Kamen: So we kind of – we kind of like he said like clumsy reach and kind of solve it in our own way.
Luke Macfarlane: Right. Yes.
Heather McLatchy: Great. Well, thank you so much, I think fans are really going to enjoy the show and I hope you have a fantastic first season. Thanks so much.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Luke Macfarlane: Thank you so much
Hannah John-Kamen: oh, thank you very much.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tom Gardiner. Your line is open.
Tom Gardiner: Thank you. Hi, badasses, how are you guys?
Aaron Ashmore: Good everything is fine
Hannah John-Kamen: Good.
Tom Gardiner: Look, I know Firefly already has been mentioned and you’re an original show but I believe these comparisons are really intended to be a complmentary and I wanted to know what you guys thought about, you know, the inevitable comparison that will come up along the way?
Aaron Ashmore: I think it’s fine because until people really get the personality of our show, it’s like that’s the easiest way to sort of understand something or put it out there as to sort of compare it with something. So I think that that’s totally fine. I think that people who are fans of Firefly, I think there are definitely some similarities just in the genre of the show, so I think that that’s great.
But I also think that Michelle Lovretta our creator and the whole creative team have also created their own unique world. And as much as there maybe some similarities in a broad sense I think the specifics of the show and characters and details are definitely going to become something all to themselves. So I think the comparison are like totally cool, I think it’s flattering too because as genre fan myself like Firefly is obviously, you know, one of the biggest shows, one of the most beloved shows so any comparison to that are cool.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I definitely think about that. I mean, that’s the way we understand things is by comparing them to each other, I mean it really is. I mean, my hope is that, yes, eventually it steps into its own unique thing and then one day they’ll compare us to something that we haven’t yet seen around the set.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, exactly.
Luke Macfarlane: But I would also say and I think I said this before but like, you know, Firefly was essentially a rouge group of individuals. The Killjoys operate within a system and I think to that is very, very deeply sort of what makes this different. We can’t do whatever we want whenever we want, we have to operate with inside the system called the (R.A.C.). And I think that’s really fundamental difference that makes the world actually fundamentally different.
Tom Gardiner: My next question is for Hannah or for any of you guys, you know the answer to this. But Dutch one of the interesting things about her is that she’s got a mysterious background, is that mysterious background going to be a large part of the story as it unfolds throughout the season?
Hannah John-Kamen: Sorry I’m losing a bit of speaker hits, can you just repeat that for me please?
Tom Gardiner: Sure. I said that, you know, Dutch has a mysteries background, will that be a large part of the story as it unfolds throughout the season?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, I mean, you see hints of it at the beginning of the season, of kind of how tough all of these catching up with her. As the show goes on it kind of seems more like a massive change. And yes absolutely you’re going to expect a lot of unraveling of Dutch, and her character, and her past, and why she – why she is where she is now. There’s going to be a lot of question after so there’s going to be more questions even, you know, as the show goes on.
Tom Gardiner: Also you guys look like a completely original show, was there any inspiration for this setup or was this completely original?
Aaron Ashmore: Well that’s something like probably Michelle Loveretta our creator would have more information about. So that’s kind of – I think it’s kind of hard for us to answer this. As far as working or like as far as I know, I think, you know, it was totally sort of an original creation.. But I’m sure that she being a fan of the genre, you know, it was, you know, it was influenced by all sort of things over the years. But it’s maybe hard for us to talk about exactly what those things were for her.
Luke Macfarlane: But as far as is it coming from a comic books, you know, absolutely not.
Tom Gardiner: One last question, what’s the good thing about going back to back schedule with Dark Matter, we going to have two ship based space shows all together in one night which I’m quite excited about? And what would you think about the possibilities of crossovers in the future?
Aaron Ashmore: Crossovers would be cool but I don’t know if they could handle us because we’re pretty dangerous so if we had to go head to head…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, we’re pretty badass.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. Of course anything like that would be really exciting actually, the crossing into another show even if it’s sort of like a, you know, a minor sort of thing.
Hannah John-Kamen: Mega cool.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, I would also though think it’s like – it would be that funny thing of, you know, all of our characters kind of have, you know, big sense of humor and personality. And from my understanding of Dark Matter they are a little bit more sort of cold killer like, kind of – I don’t know if they’re funny so I think they might look at us like we’re a bunch of clowns.
But then we beat them up.
Aaron Ashmore: Dangerous killer clowns, that’s what we are.
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re clowns but then we’d beat them up definitely.
Luke Macfarlane: But then we beat them up and we steal their ship.
Aaron Ashmore: How funny are we now?
Hannah John-Kamen: Exactly.
Luke Macfarlane: Go back in your cryo freeze.
Aaron Ashmore: But yes it would totally be fun probably to do crossovers.
Luke Macfarlane: Very fun.
Tom Gardiner: Thank you so much for you time, I appreciate it.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: You next question comes from the line of Mynda Bullock. Your line is open.
Mynda Bullock: Hi, guys this is min – hi, this is Mynda. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some question for us. I’ve seen the first four episodes, and I thank you guys, it’s going to be really cool. It seem like a lot of fun to do the fight scenes you guys had, you have all these cool gadgets that either any of you have any favorite gadget that you work with or that you like to have in real life or in a fight?
Hannah John-Kamen: My guns, I felt like my guns was part of my limbs. I thought wig but my gun wasn’t there. I don’t know why, I just had this bond with my gun, I fell in love with my laser gun.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: I think we all had unhealthy attachments to our weapons by the time we’re done.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, certainly.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. And beautiful custom like leather leg harnesses were something I’ll wear as well, yes.
Aaron Ashmore: I think at a certain point the props guys would start asking us if they wanted us – to like to take the guns off us between scenes. And it sort of happen at a certain point where all of us were like no, no, no we prefer hanging on to them. And we’re very adamant about that so, yes, it was kind of that weird:
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, very cool…
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, they were like, all right then, OK.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: That’s awesome.
Luke Macfarlane: Of course they can shoot lasers.
Mynda Bullock: How fun is that. What is with the green juice that you guys drink, what is it?
Hannah John-Kamen: Algae beer.
Aaron Ashmore: Algae beer which sort of took a backseat after the first episode because I think they’re like – and it’s so gross but that’s.
Hannah John-Kamen: It was so gross. But that’s…
Aaron Ashmore: What it though? It’s like coconut water mixed with something else, it was kind of lumpy.
Luke Macfarlane: They blended…
Aaron Ashmore: Spinach. So I think.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think it’s like a really healthy like L.A. smoothie or something but to be host I’m like mad on it. And then we have like algae buns as well that like you guys hey, I never got to eat it, it was made up like beans, isn’t it?
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, some sort of bean curd.
But I think that he spinach started to get stuck in our teach from the algae beer and like, you know, you just couldn’t have that in scenes so they’re like yes, we’re going to lose that because you guys are all smiling in those green junks…
Hannah John-Kamen: So it was pumpkin beers. So yes we kind of changed it to pumpkin instead of algae.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes. I’m glad you asked about that. I actually asked the writers a similar question, where did the algae beer go, it’s stuck in his teeth.
Hannah John-Kamen: Where the L.A. smoothie has gone.
Mynda Bullock: So one last question, are you guys going tweet it from here, everyone would love to speak with you?
Aaron Ashmore: I’m going try – I’m going to try and do that for sure – well, I’m not going to try, I am going to do that, yes. The only thing…
Hannah John-Kamen: I’m going to do that.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, but your time zone, you’re going to be, you know, Hannah is going to be like in the middle of the night when we’re airing.
Hannah John-Kamen: I’m going to be – I’m dedicated.
Aaron Ashmore: What’s commitment?
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s going to be 3:00 in the morning for me. I going to have a wedding to go to the next day but I should be up in the morning.
Aaron Ashmore: How can we offer commitment?
Luke Macfarlane: That’s making me feel very bad because I haven’t – I don’t have a Twitter.
Mynda Bullock: Oh, you don’t have a Twitter.
Luke Macfarlane: I don’t.
Aaron Ashmore: But don’t be – it’s not for everyone, it’s truly not.
Hannah John-Kamen: Not for everyone.
Aaron Ashmore: No.
Luke Macfarlane: I have two, you know, I have two – I don’t have fingers, how about that.
Aaron Ashmore: Those are all PG in the show.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: All right, thank you very much.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Lisa Macklem. Your line is open.
Lisa Macklem: Hi, guys.
Aaron Ashmore: Hi, Lisa.
Lisa Macklem: Thanks so much for talking with us, I really enjoyed the premier. And just a quick aside, Luke I’m actually calling from London, Ontario so…
Luke Macfarlane: You’re kidding me.
Lisa Macklem: No, I’m not kidding.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh, that’s fantastic. My mother wish I was there right now.
Lisa Macklem: Oh, well, it’s very humid, so maybe not.
Luke Macfarlane: Not as humid as Richmond, Virginia I’m sure.
Lisa Macklem: No, probably not.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Lisa Macklem: So I was wondering about the stunts and the fighting are great and you guys do a lot of gadgets and all that stuff, did you have any special training going in or how did that work?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, like we all had stunt training, military training, and physical training as well. And the stunt coordinator was called (Alam), and (Alex) and (Allison) and kind of see what we can. So during the week before and off the scenes and kind of plan out with that stunt double, the fight sequence, and it was so much fun, it was so much fun.
Luke Macfarlane: It really was.
Hannah John-Kamen: One of my favorite parts, yes.
Luke Macfarlane: No, it was kind of this, you know, when I first gone to the business there is a sort of mythological idea that you have like an action show, that you’re a trainer. And I remember hearing the, I mean like cool. And this is actually the first time that I was – ever got a trainer. We worked out and, you know, they took pictures of our shortlist which they sent to the producers. It was like – I mean, it’s always like this badass thing that I like wanted to have and they did it, and it was great, you know, it was really great, it was a great excuse to sort of workout.
Aaron Ashmore: And the physical stuff that we got to do at the beginning, the military stuff, the working out, the fight training is really kind of neat because the three of us didn’t know each other so we’re sort of thrown into all these really intense training together. And I think that it’s kind of fun when you start on it and it’s a good way to sort of bond with your fellow actors through all this training and physical stuff. And we really get to know each other. And everybody was sort of slightly out of their elements because none of us are martial artist or anything like that. So you’re all thrown into this new experience in doing it together and yes it was actually a lot of fun.
Hannah John-Kamen: We bonded pretty violent.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Oh, my goodness.
Lisa Macklem: Do you guys get to do a lot of your stunts?
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes, I think we all did them, didn’t we?
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: For sure. And obviously there’s stunt doubles for stuff that, you know, they don’t want you to get hurt and all that but they actually let us do a lot of it ourselves.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, they did. We had amazing stunt doubles. And speaking of London, Ontario. My mother came to set one day when my stun double was acting. And then my, you know, the stunt double do the scene, and, you know, the actors do the scene. And obviously the camera operators are a little more inclined to show your faces. My mother says in front of the stunt double, I think you did a much better job as he did. And I said mom, that’s absolutely incorrect, he’s amazing. But, you know, moms will be moms.
Aaron Ashmore: She’s just so proud of her boy.
Luke Macfarlane: She was so proud of ass-kicking boy.
Lisa Macklem: That’s adorable. I got a quick question and maybe just a little bit more detail about your characters. I know sometimes actors work a background for themselves, can you tell us something about your character that maybe only you know about your character?
Hannah John-Kamen: Something – So I didn’t heard the last part, sorry.
Lisa Macklem: Something that only you know about your character, maybe something that you made up for yourselves for background?
Luke Macfarlane: Sure.
Aaron Ashmore: I think for myself – oh sorry, go ahead Luke.
Luke Macfarlane: Well, you know, not to get too dark but I think that I think that John and D’avin’s father, I think he used to beat up D’avin.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. I mean, that’s interesting too because like we’d never discussed anything like that and there’s nothing in the show like that. But I had, you know, thought of similar things like John and D’avin’s background. You know, we don’t really get into the details of it in the show but it was very, very difficult so I sort of thought of things like that too about scenarios, about – and I sort of pictured that too that D’avin was the, you know, the older brother and so he probably took a brunt of a lot of that growing up. And probably was protecting John, so for me there’s slightly guilt dripping in some of those potential things about, you know, it’s kind of dark, it’s kind of dark.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: But I thought a lot of those things too but we didn’t really discuss that stuff and it’s not on the – it’s not on the page but…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, in season one.
Aaron Ashmore: But hey, the show is still fun, it’s not all dark
Lisa Macklem: OK, last question and a happier one. So is there a really funny scene that stands out in your mind that we would be looking for?
Aaron Ashmore: Say, again, did you say a really funny scene?
Lisa Macklem: Yes. Your favorite funny scene that we should be looking for.
Aaron Ashmore: Kind of think back to all the stuff.
Hannah John-Kamen: OK, that’s very much the stuff that happened kind of on camera that makes me laugh. Funny scenes.
Luke Macfarlane: Gosh. Oh, I know something to look that I think is very funny. In a much later episode John comes in contact with a super computer and he gets really excited about that super computer.
So I’m just going say that much, I laughed really hard when I saw that.
Aaron Ashmore: Good, I’m so glad. So John’s nerdiness that you find – that’s good I like that.
I think this is a lot of – I think the sense of humor, the show is not necessarily like always ha, ha funny like knee slapper, I think it’s sort of subtle and it’s really in the sort of way that these characters sort of tease each other or interact with each other. So I think it’s just so peppered throughout the show this sort of current of humor on the way that they sort of gab at each other. So I think to me that’s really where the humor lies, it’s not like, oh my God there’s this one hilarious like comic scene. It’s really the tone of the way these people rib each other and tease each other that to me is where the sense of humor really lies.
Luke Macfarlane: Right, right. Yes.
Lisa Macklem: Thanks so much I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.
Aaron Ashmore: Awesome, thank you so much.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tim Holquinn. Your line is open.
Tim Holquinn: Hi, thanks for speaking with us today.
Aaron Ashmore: Hey, Tim, thanks.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
Tim Holquinn: Hi. I was wondering if each of you could share something about each of your co-stars that surprised you the most perhaps their, you know, their personality or their process anything that comes to mind.
Aaron Ashmore: Oh, telling tales on each other, oh my goodness. I was surprised at both of – and I was very pleasantly surprised at how sort of funny and not just funny but weird both Luke and Hannah’s sense of humor.
Hannah John-Kamen: I think yes, yes
Aaron Ashmore: Because, you know, and I think that’s one of the really unique things about the three of us together is that we’re just so weird. And our sense of humor is just kin of rip off each other and so I was really pleasantly surprised to see how strange their sense of humor were and then how as a whole bonded together.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, definitely, it’s like…
Hannah John-Kamen: Like I think it’s the sense of humor. Because on set like one of us is like saying something with and then without even any questions the other one would join in and then it wouldn’t start for like an hour.
Aaron Ashmore: In harmony nonetheless.
Hannah John-Kamen: In harmony. That was like surprise to me is kind of like similar to Aaron this kind of crazy sense of humor, no questions asked just really join in.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes. And that’s not always the case right, you know, the way that you - the things that you think are funnier, the things that really sort of tickle you have other people that you’re working with and it’s flows, that was sort of really surprising and lucky I think.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. Yes.
Tim Holquinn: OK. And yes action oriented show sometimes the actors will use mood suitor conjure up certain mental queues to kind of inspire them to kind of pump them up for the intense action scenes. Do either of you have device that you utilize?
Luke Macfarlane: Cool. I didn’t use any of that, not for myself.
Hannah John-Kamen:L No.
Aaron Ashmore: I find like emotional scenes sometimes that works better, you know, like to set the mood if it’s sad or anger or something. But the action stuff is sort of like you’re just thrown in and you got to run or you got to kick butt it’s like – it’s sometimes that’s not the hardest thing to sort of motivate yourselves into. But sometimes for emotional scenes that works a little bit better to just kind of put you in a place emotionally.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, definitely. In fact thinking about, you know, thinking about the first fight scene that we filmed which is John and I in the cage fight right at the beginning, it was so amazing to have that whole crowd of people around us yelling just that was sort of enough to get us into the mood. Like it was really cool to have 100 or whatever extras all screaming, they don’t know what the show is, they don’t know what they’re screaming for. But still…
Aaron Ashmore. It was interesting too I remember we did a first take right after lunch and everybody was still kind of coming back from lunch, they just had something to eat, everybody was kind of quite. And then Chris Grismer our director was like, OK, guys we’re back from lunch, I need you to like screen and yell. And then when we did another take it sort of changed everything because when you have like a 100 people sort of like screaming and like beating on the cage like that sort of energy really amp everything up for us. And, you know, yes, that was really cool actually.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. I think for me I just literally went in there and just basically kick some butt in the scenes.
Aaron Ashmore: Hannah needs no inspiration she’s just…
Hannah John-Kamen: I think (inaudible)…
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, she got…
Hannah John-Kamen: … So all of these guys knows like, right, you’re all done.
Tim Holquinn: OK. One last question, once you realized that you had gotten the job that you’re going to play a bounty hunter, did you do any like research and perhaps find that you had a favorite real life fictional bounty hunter that you might have drawn inspiration from?
Aaron Ashmore: My dad is a big “Dog The Bounty Hunter” fan so I just – and I already watched a ton of Dog. But that’s not – that’s not really what we’re going for here so I kind of did the opposite that I strip away anything that I’d seen from Dog and decided to just go off the script.
Luke Macfarlane: That was wise.
Hannah John-Kamen: To me I think like – I think…
Luke Macfarlane: He came with a mullet the first day.
Aaron Ashmore: I should, the mullet, I got rid of that pretty quick.
Hannah John-Kamen: I don’t know, I think for me I just basically did like character research and building on more of this character building with Michelle and Chris Grismer where we had meeting. And the skills come with the training and within the character. But for me it was kind of who is Dutch first before what does that do.
Aaron Ashmore: Totally.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes. I remember feeling very entered to this, I had, you know, I think both Hannah and Aaron had experience in Sci-Fi world, I was like intimated, I’ve never done in Sci-Fi world, so I actually watched a lot of Sci-Fi programming thinking that like, you know, oh, I’m going to be interacting with these people and fans that know kind of the Sci-Fi world much more deeply than I do and I don’t want to look like irreverent to their genre.
Tim Holquinn: Well that was probably a good decision.
Luke Macfarlane: Everything.
Tim Holquinn: All right, well it was a real treat to get to speak with you today. Thank you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Claire Pratt). Your line is open.
(Claire Pratt): Hi, guys, I hope you – hi guys.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
(Claire Pratt): Hi, thank you for speaking with us today. I haven’t gone to see the episode yet but I’ve seen some clips and it looks awesome so I’m really excited.
Aaron Ashmore: Cool.
Hannah John-Kamen: Great.
(Claire Pratt): I was just wondering, if we were in space right now, what would be your kind of space dream job, like could you be a pilot, or a bounty hunter, or an explorer or what would you like to do if we live in space?
Luke Macfarlane: Oh, gosh, that’s…
Aaron Ashmore: We’re already in space.
Hannah John-Kamen: Maybe like for me – for me I just love to be like a – maybe like a ship like engineer so I actually get to go out in space with my space suite.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, do the space walk.
.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. Actually something to do with being completely in space, in space.
Luke Macfarlane: I would like to be like the curator of like a space museum. And like I would like to talk to people about like the history of space. And I have this like really cool like museum, and like, you know, “Many years ago we have the challenger.” And that was a terrible thing, they have like a tutorial, teach the people the history of space.
Hannah John-Kamen: The battle.
Luke Macfarlane: The battle, yes, the great old battle of….
Hannah John-Kamen: The great battle..
Luke Macfarlane: And (Jules) burn that – yes, that’s what I would do.
Hannah John-Kamen: Alright, do that
(Claire Pratt): All right, that sounds cool. So if you could travel anywhere – if you could travel anywhere in outer space where would you want to go?
Aaron Ashmore: To a planet where there’s alien life maybe.
(Claire Pratt): OK, cool.
Aaron Ashmore: Wherever is that, I don’t know the name of it unfortunately, I can’t be that specific but…
Luke Macfarlane: If you could I would be…
Aaron Ashmore: Very impressed. I would be wasting my skills as an actor if I could tell you where that is
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s hard, there’s not a lot of place that you could go. That phone is really loud.
Hello.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby. Your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi, again guys. So you guys talked about some of the – I’m sorry, my dog is barking. Talked about some the comedic moments and I know Aaron you said they’re more subtle. But you guys have some great lines, do you guys have any favorite lines that you said in the show?
Aaron Ashmore: I like when I…
Hannah John-Kamen: Mine is the crashy two hander.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh the old crashy two hander.
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s the crashy two hander line I think for me because I think it’s just cool.
Jamie Ruby: OK.
Aaron Ashmore: I like my – in the first scene of the first episode there’s a great line where one of the characters asked me if it’s, you know, if it’s uncomfortable walking around because I have such big balls and I’m like yes there’s some chasing. I think that kind of funny and like that’s sort of a tone of the show, the subtlety of the humor sometimes, I just think that’s kind of quite humor.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, that was very funny yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: That was wonderful. Luke.
Luke Macfarlane: Oh gosh, I don’t know, I mean there’s this, I’m not sure if this was in the episode that you saw but we need some nuns and they have done what I thought was very funny..
Aaron Ashmore: I know a line Luke of yours that I really like and it sort of speaks to the, you know, the character, the difference in the characters and stuff like that. John is, you know, he’s trying to do something in a scientific sort of way and he gets himself in trouble and Luke’s character, I can’t remember the exact lines but he’s like, see what id I tell you like science is dumb, you know, these sort of characters.
Luke Macfarlane: I remember being very concerned about that line because I’m going alienate our audience. Like I think these people that watch the show are going to like science and they’re going to hate me.
Aaron Ashmore: No, no because it’s like very funny. But you don’t come across as dumb, it’s a really funny sort of character I think…
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s funny.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, it’s funny.
Jamie Ruby: All right, and then as a follow-up we know that obviously Dutch has a lot of secrets and Luke also kind of about what’s happened in his past in the war and everything, so Aaron my question is does John have any kind of secrets that we’re going to be finding out about?
Aaron Ashmore: In this first season not really. And I think that that’s kind of that sort of needs to be that way because the whole thing is that, you know, Dutch and D’avin have these two secrets that are sort of holding the team apart because they’re not really wanting to share those and trying to deal with all these things by themselves. And it causes a lot of strain on the team and I think John’s position in this first season is to like his main, you know, purpose in the show and, you know, his goal is to keep the team together because they’re sort of just ripping each other apart.
So I think if you then throw, you know, John into the mix where he got things, I think it would be a bit convoluted and a bit sort of like, you know, you needed somebody who was just, you know not being torn apart by all these stuff to kind of keep it together. So I hope that in if we get other season that we’ll get to start to see, you know, a little bit of John’s past and the things that he had to go through, the difficulties and stuff.
So I really hope that we will get to do that but I think in this season it would have been a bit much to sort of have all three of them really, you know, trying to explore these dark secret and stuff.
Jamie Ruby: Hopefully we’ll see more next.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Jamie Ruby: All right, thanks so much guys.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Robin Burks. Your line is open.
Robin Burks: Hello again. What has been your favorite part about working on Killjoys so far?
Hannah John-Kamen: To me honestly I think there’s a shoot – the amount of fun I had off screen and off. I mean the set have been amazing, I think the fighting as well for to me which has been so cool. But I think with like Aaron and Luke they’re just so amazing to work with. They just made the whole time and experience just, you know, just ejected with fun.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s really true. You often hear actors talking about, “Oh, you know, we all like so much.” But really legitimately it was like a real – a really great group, like I love showing up to work, it was wonderful.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Luke Macfarlane: And just to use your imagination in a really profound way. You know, it’s not often that you get to in kind of scripts where you’re required to imagine so much and that it makes you feel like a kid again when you’re looking out the window of your spaceship and you seen a green screen having to imagine what’s on that, you know, often your job is sort of entering into a living room with cup of tea. So you can use your imagination that massive way is super fun.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes, I agree, I think, you know, first and foremost not just like as the actors but the whole creative team and the whole crew, I think everybody really, really enjoyed themselves. And again that’s not, you know, we’re working in such a fun business and that, but the experiences are not always amazing, amazing. And I think like on a personal level the fun of working with everybody was way, way up there.
I think another thing for me was getting to start on a show, I’ve done lots of shows where I kind of come into them while they’re already been successful and then become a lead on the show or reoccurring. But to come in to a show from the very start and feel like you’re really, really part of something.
And like Luke was saying, it’s just not really part of something where it set in New York or wherever where we know everything but we’re really getting to explore and create the world and this characters that nobody seen before. You know, coming from Michelle’s imagination and the writers and then we really get to inhabit these places that don’t exist, and these societies, these cultural levels and stuff that are not real in real life. So who gets to do that, some people get to fantasize and get to think about those things but we actually get to sort of act them out and create them. And that’s been the really, really exciting thing that very few people get to do, so it’s a lot of fun.
Luke Macfarlane: I remember the first time we all were on the cockpit together, you know, and we’ve been watching the ships get build because we’re filming on our station and we see them and like, “Cool, that’s our spaceship.”
And then all the sudden we were on the spaceship and they build this beautiful thing but nobody knew how to drive it and we got to make up how to drive the ship. And we got to imagine what button to your press to try to make it go up and make it go round and that’s like thrilling.
Jamie Ruby: OK, let’s turn that around and what challenges did you face when filming the first season?
Luke Macfarlane: I was just going to say, you know, it’s a small cast and we all worked a lot, it was really long hours. You know, sometimes when cast of shows are bigger and there’s more sort of screen time to go around but this is, you know, very equality spread among three people so we had really long days.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: To me I think like the challenges at the begging, I remember when we had this gun and it was so heavy. And I think it actual kind of like getting to use to it, the equipment and the armor, and making it look like I’ve been carrying this gun for years. I mean I think for me it was – it was really embodying a killer, as a bounty hunter, and getting used to, you know, the kind of physical way of that.
Aaron Ashmore: I think for me and even up until very recently I felt this way throughout the whole season, so you’re really excited to do this, this is an amazing opportunity. But, you know, you’re really like, I hope that we do all of this justice, I hope that all this hard work that we do and we put in, you know, that it pays off, that people really enjoy it.
Because like again, you know, we’re not just doing a cop show where we’re emulating something that’s already out there and people will buy into it. We’re creating a whole new world and so you’re just like the tone of things you really want to get right and you really wanted to create something that people are going to – characters and a world that’s believable and people are going to buy into.
And, you know, that’s just, you know, comes with the genre, I think that that’s there’s a lot of actual work that you have to do and pressure that’s sort of put on you because it’s like people have to buy into this. It’s not easy as thing to buy into and the Sci-Fi audience is very discerning, they’re very intelligent, and you want them to like it, you want them to really buy into this world that you’re inhabiting and creating.
So that’s, you know, there’s some pressure in that and that doesn’t just fall on us obviously as the actors, that’s sort of, you know, as production what we all have to accomplish together. But after seeing the show I feel very confident and very proud of the work that everybody did and I’m really hoping that everybody is going to enjoy it.
Luke Macfarlane: That’s really good point, yes. And specially being aware of I think there is more reverence sort of the intelligence of the audience in this genre than any other genre I think I’ve worked in and wanting to do them, to do them right.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes.
Aaron Ashmore: Yes.
Jamie Ruby: Thank you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Kris Kwan). Your line is open.
Luke Macfarlane: Hi, (Kris).
(Kris Kwan): Hi everybody, thanks for talking to us.
Aaron Ashmore: No problem, no problem.
Hannah John-Kamen: Hi.
(Kris Kwan): So Killjoys is created by the creator of Lost Girl Michelle Lavretta and it’s produced by the producers of Orphan Black, (Temple Street), and I’m a huge fan of those shows and really looking forward to Killjoys. So what do you think fans of those shows would like about Killjoys?
Aaron Ashmore: Well, obviously they’re, you know, coming from the same sensibility, the same minds, so I think obviously our show is going to be very different because the content and the world and stuff that we’re in but it’s still coming fro the people who have the same sensibility who make those other shows that obviously tons and tons of people enjoyed. So it’s kind of hard to say exactly what it is but I think that the sensibility are going to be the same. So hopefully that, you know, the things that you enjoy about those other shows, they’ll be, you know, assembled in our show as well.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Speaking a little bit about Lost Girl, I think there’s something about, you know, not to be sort of lied about it but there’s a sort of sense of female empowerment that I think is definitely something that’s really strong (in viewers), strong female characters that aren’t just, you know, strong for the sake, you know, that they beat people up but they also, you know, they’re very comfortable with their sexuality. Michelle writes a lot about sexuality in a really I think unique way that sort of very different than most TV sort of characters have sex and not feel ashamed about it. So, yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: Yes. And wow there’s not really kind of a big thing about sex, sexuality. I think the thing is any women can do any man (inaudible), any man can see the bus.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Hannah John-Kamen: It’s kind of, you know, there’s this massive freedom there.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
(Kris Kwan): Sounds great. Thanks. Also you guys just talked about this a little bit but – and I know Aaron is probably used to it by now but are you guys ready for the vintage genre fans you’re about to have.
Luke Macfarlane: Bring it on.
Hannah John-Kamen: We’re ready.
Luke Macfarlane: I would love…
Hannah John-Kamen: Bring it on.
Luke Macfarlane: I would love it.
I have a lot of flight attendant sort of fans right now, I like to sort of broaden my fan base.
Yes.
(Kris Kwan): Great, thank you guys very much.
Aaron Ashmore: So Luke you get upgraded at everything.
Luke Macfarlane: I often get like – they’re like, “Oh, you know, the first class wine is a little bit better than the coach wine. Let me see if I can scrounge a glass for you.
Aaron Ashmore: That’s exactly a bonus.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes, it’s very nice..
Hannah John-Kamen: Nice.
Gary Morgenstein: We have time for one more – one more question please.
Operator: Your final question comes from the line of Mynda Bullock. Your line is open.
Mynda Bullock: Hi, guys, it’s Mynda again. Luke I have a question for you, we talked previously about Dutch’s past and what’s going on with her. But what can you tell us a little bit about D’avin’s search for the military doctor and whether his search will come to a resolution this season?
Luke Macfarlane: Well, he’s definitely looking for this person all the way through the show and, gosh, I don’t know how much I should tease but yes he finds her, he finds her. And that she is a her. And eyes I think it’s really interesting because, you know, there’s sort of a lot of comparisons that I think that a lot of soldiers, you know, returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are encountering like sort of how to reconcile with their sort of violent past and, you know, I think it’s a great story line. But he does, he does get I think more completion and closure than Dutch does
Mynda Bullock: OK.
Luke Macfarlane: Yes.
Mynda Bullock: Thank you.
Gary Morgenstein: Thank you everyone, thank you Hannah, Luke and Aaron.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Gary Morgenstein: Thank you everyone for participating in the call. Take care. Bye-bye
Luke Macfarlane: Bye.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Luke Macfarlane: Bye guys.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye
Aaron Ashmore: Love you, bye.
Luke Macfarlane: Love you too. Bye.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye guys.
Aaron Ashmore: Bye.
Luke Macfarlane: Bye Hannah.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Gary Morgenstein: Thank you everyone for participating in the call. Take care. Bye-bye
Luke Macfarlane: Bye.
Hannah John-Kamen: Thank you.
Luke Macfarlane: Bye guys.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye
Aaron Ashmore: Love you, bye.
Luke Macfarlane: Love you too. Bye.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye guys.
Aaron Ashmore: Bye.
Luke Macfarlane: Bye Hannah.
Hannah John-Kamen: Bye.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect
END
