Here at TheTelevixen.com, we’re very lucky to be caught up through Season Two of Lost Girl on Showcase, so we were a little nervous about a Syfy-hosted Season One concall chat with the series stars, because, frankly, it’s been a while. We were immediately put at ease by the lovely and talented Anna Silk (Bo), Ksenia Solo (Kenzi), and Kris Holden-Ried (Dyson), because it’s been even longer for them and they, too, had to search their brains about what happened when, while also avoiding Season Two spoilers. As a courtesy to our US viewers, we’ll focus on Season One and general responses.
The first amusing anecdote we learned is that the hot scene at the beginning of “Vexed” was the very first scene filmed and the episode was the original pilot. “It was exhausting and I remember it was my birthday,” says Silk. “And I spent it nude covered in blood on top of [Holden-Ried]. It was a great way to spend my birthday. So that was [a] good memory.” And you thought your first day at work was awkward.
The first scene Solo, Silk, and Holden-Ried shot together was walking and talking outside in Toronto in the dead of winter, where they froze “their tushes off,” according to Solo. Holden-Ried says kicking off the show was a brave new world for all of them. “We all sort of met [and] had no idea what we were doing but we were creating this world for the first time [and] it was very exciting.” Silk says they were trying to play it cool but were plagued by runny noses.
When the cast began production on Season Two, it was like going home. “[The] first few episodes back … the whole cast was in a scene together and everything just felt like a family, like everyone sort of naturally knew when to come in,” she says. “[Obviously] it’s written … but we naturally sort of have each other’s rhythm and energy as actors but also as these characters. [We’ve] just sort of bonded as the episodes went on.” As for guest stars, it’s an embarrassment of riches, according to Holden-Ried. “Put it this way, we’ve never had a bad guest star that we wouldn’t work with again,” he says.
The expanded audience for Season Two (after the Syfy pickup) meant different things to each of them. “[The characters] are sort of in a different place than where we started, so I’ve actually had to kind of review some of the Season One episodes in order to be able to do press,” admits Silk. “[It’s] challenging [but also] really exciting to bring it to a new audience and it’s really cool to see a [the] response to people that are experiencing it for the first time.”
Solo has enjoyed the evolution in the characters. “I think [in] Season One, we were really finding our footing … discovering who we are as our characters … as a show, what our voice really is and I think we all knew [Lost Girl was] very unique and of course, we didn’t know what the fans’ response was going to be,” she says. “[The] fact that it’s been what it is has been incredibly humbling and incredibly exciting. [When] I saw other girls dressed up as Kenzi, for me that was like a sign of like, ‘wow, people really enjoy these characters and they really love the show.’ And just we couldn’t be happier.”
Silk looks forward to the US audiences starting Season Two next month. “The show continues to grow [and] the first season really laid a good foundation,” she says. “[We] took off from there and took it in new directions, which I can’t wait for everyone to see.”
They spent a few minutes during our call reminiscing about the first season episode, “Food for Thought”. “We are just so lucky on this show that all of us gel together,” says Holden-Ried. “So when we get a chance to work with each other, whether it’s with Ksenia and Anna, Ksenia and KC [Collins] or myself, we just all sort of have our own little nice little niches. [Luckily] that episode really got to show what Ksenia and I can do with each other [and] I’m really glad we did.”
Solo says it was an emotional outing for her. “We’re so lucky to have Kris on the show, I really—I’m not trying to kiss his ass, but he knows, I tell him this every day that I think he’s so incredibly intuitive and talented and working with him, it just makes your job so much easier,” she says. “Because you really are as good as your acting partner, so he really lifts us all up and I really think that he truly is one of the best Canada has to offer.”
She went on to tease him about his wardrobe on the show. “We’re also lucky that he’s so sexy and he takes his shirt off a lot,” she says. “I wish he had his shirt off [in] all those scenes, when I was dying, I’m sure it would have made me get better sooner.” Holden-Ried could only muster an “Oh My God” at the gushing but took it all in good stride.
With the Season Two US pickup and early third season renewal, the cast were relieved and happy that they had some road to run now. Solo jokes that they all became really big divas. And Silk kiddingly adds that they got bigger trailers. The net, net though, is that they were all grateful that they’ll get to do the show and play these characters for a good while so they can pace themselves with the storytelling and not be preoccupied with the actor’s dilemma of the “next job”.
“I think that Lost Girl has a long way to go. I think that because it’s such a vast world to explore, there [are] a lot of possibilities,” says Silk. “And we still haven’t tapped into many of them … I guess it makes you kind of think about some [of the] subtleties you can bring into the character that you’re playing.”
Holden-Ried offers “I don’t think it really changes our day-to-day performance. We have a certain job to do [that] requires a lot of presence in the moment and that’s what we focus on.” Solo adds that it helps build the anticipatory nature of the show’s universe. “I think just as much as the fans are excited to see where the show goes and what’s going to happen to the characters and what new guest stars and creatures are going to come in, [we] all feel the exact same because we obviously don’t know what’s going to happen,” she says. “And it’s cool that our story lines can really at this point go anywhere, so it will be fun for us to explore different avenues.”
All of them appreciate the fantasy genre. Holden-Ried likes working in it because it allows them to have so many different creative story lines and characters. “[Having] super powers or [being] really old, these are things that an artist [doesn’t] get to often explore or learn to express,” he offers. “It’s a lot of fun, it’s very imaginative, and it’s a great playing field to work with.”
Solo says the only downside is the green screen work. “That’s always an interesting experience. And you always feel a little bit stupid, I have to admit, but the challenge is just making it as real as possible,” she says. “But I completely agree with Kris that you get to kind of go outside of reality and it’s always a lot of fun. You get to go wild.”
Silks adds, “You get to just play this scenario on the show and the circumstances and all the stuff that’s going on [with] these characters. And we take it seriously but we don’t necessarily take the world that seriously because it’s crazy Fae world, so we get to laugh at it a lot too. And have fun with it.” She agrees the CGI takes a little getting used to. “[It’s] a little weird but you just have to trust that [that] it’s going to look good in the end, and it usually does.”
The cast appreciates the collaborative aspects of the show. “We kind of have as much input as we want. There’s a chain of sort of command [of course] but I think we’re very fortunate, because it’s … still an independent production where we actually can converse with the writers and executive producers one-on-one when we need to,” says Holden-Ried. “And they’re always open to our story ideas.” Silk adds that as the writers have gotten to know the cast, they write more to their strengths. “I might speak up about something and it’s generally been welcome input. So it does feel very collaborative.”
Silk and Solo are very proud that the show is so sexually diverse. “It’s definitely refreshing. [One] of the things that we’re most proud of on the show is the fact that there’s this love triangle [between] Bo and Dyson and Bo and Lauren. And both of those relationship kind of rival each other, they’re really strong. They’re sexual and they’re real,” Silk says. She was shocked in running back through season one to realize how many people she kissed. “It’s funny [and] an interesting part of my job, but it’s an important part of the show [and] the character.”
“I think sexuality is such an important part of life and I think the fact that our show is so open to it [that] it doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight or you’re blue or black or green,” says Solo. “It’s open to the entire human race, it’s open to everybody.”
Holden-Ried says the friendships off-camera have helped with getting naked on camera. “We’re really blessed with [the] great chemistry we all have with each other. [Taking] a leap from a true caring friendship with the actor you’re working with and [spinning it toward] sexiness isn’t a difficult step,” he says. “[The] real trust and chemistry we [have] transcends through the screen.” Silk says it helps tremendously that they all really like each other, too.
We’re definitely buying what they’re selling.
Season one of Lost Girl is airing now on Syfy in the US. The Season One finale airs at 10 pm ET on Monday, April 9th and Season Two begins immediately the following week. The Season Two finale airs at 10 pm ET on Sunday, April 1st, on Showcase in Canada.
Photo Courtesy of Syfy
