If you haven't yet heard, Syfy recently announced a commitment to return to its science fiction roots. Part of that commitment was bringing space dramas back to television, including Killjoys, which premieres on Friday on the network.
Killjoys tells the story of three "fun-loving" bounty hunters, called Killjoys, who spend their time chasing criminals down all over the galaxy, which is at the brink of a multiplanetary class war.
Of course, the idea of fun-loving and rebellious spacefarers brings to mind one of the most beloved space dramas of all time, Firefly, and, obviously, Killjoys will see comparisons with that short-lived series. Recently, the cast of Killjoys - Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore and Luke Macfarlane - got together to discuss that comparison, as well as talk about their characters and how they relate to Lucy, their space ship.
Killjoys premieres on Syfy on Friday at 9 .m. EDT.
Could you each describe your character?
John-Kamen: Dutch is a level-five Killjoy, which means she's a top Killjoy, which means that she can kill for warrant. She lives on Lucy 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's very respected, and yes, that kind of comes with her loyalty as well.
Ashmore: 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 would lean towards more of a pacifist in this group where he is a little bit more willing to talk things through instead of shooting and asking questions later.
There's also a really strong loyalty that lies in John and he's completely dedicated to Dutch: they're partners. But Dutch is definitely the leader. And also we get to see John's brother as well, and they've been estranged for eight or nine years. In the first episode we see them come back together, but the loyalty is still really there with his brother: he wants to work things out, he wants to figure things out. And I think of John's role in this team that we're forming as the sort of glue that's trying to hold this team together.
Macfarlane: I play John's older brother, D'avin, and I don't join as a Killjoy, I sort of bump into John in a weird sort of way and then I end up 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 left the military under bad circumstances. And yes, he's immediately taken with Dutch and the kind of power that she possesses and her fight skills.
Lucy, the ship, also acts as a sort of character on the show. Can you each talk about how you relate to the ship on the series as its own entity?
Ashmore: Well, I would say that John does most of the work with Lucy, although we all interact with her - in all the episodes, we all sort of talk to her and stuff. But I think John is Lucy's favorite and I think that's addressed at times, even though John denies that. But he definitely 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. It's really cool to see that character come alive when an actor is finally voicing it. And I think that you're really going to enjoy it because it just is a really cool AI, and she has a real sense of humor, too, a real personality.
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 the seventh episode. I just call her ship, which I think is sort of funny. But I think it kind of speaks to our character's ability to empathize, and how John is really good at that and being able to understand people a little bit better than me.
John-Kamen: I think Lucy kind of sets the team well as well: she's so professional. And there are situations in the show where even though Lucy is a machine - she's a ship - she really helps our characters get out of a situation as much as she can. And, yes, there's a sense of humor as well and it's really cool because it's just seeing that with her voice, but with what she says is very, very humorous. So it's a really cool character, really cool.
Killjoys is already being compared with Firefly. How do you feel about that?
Ashmore: I think it's fine because until people really get the personality of our show, that's the easiest way to understand something or put it out there as to compare it with something. 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 are maybe some similarities in a broad sense, I think the specifics of the show and the characters and details are definitely going to become something all to themselves. So I think the comparison is totally cool. I think it's flattering, too, because as a genre fan myself, Firefly is, obviously, one of the biggest shows, one of the most beloved shows, so any comparison to that is cool.
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. 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.
But I would also say that Firefly was essentially a rogue group of individuals. The Killjoys operate within a system, and I think 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 inside the system called the (R.A.C.).
What has been your favorite part of working on Killjoys so far?
John-Kamen: To me, honestly, I think it's the amount of fun I had on-screen and off. I mean, the sets have been amazing. I think the fighting, as well, for me, which has been so cool. But I think Aaron and Luke are just so amazing to work with. They just made the whole time and experience ... fun.
Macfarlane: Yes, it's really true. You often hear actors talking about, 'Oh, you know, we all like each other so much.' But really, legitimately, it was a really great group, like I love showing up to work, it was wonderful.
And just to use your imagination in a really profound way. It's not often that you get 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 see a green screen having to imagine what's on that. Often your job is entering into a living room with a cup of tea. So you can use your imagination in that massive way and it's super fun.
Ashmore: Yes, I agree. I think, first and foremost, not just the actors, but the whole creative team and the whole crew, I think everybody really, really enjoyed themselves. And again, we're working in such a fun business, but the experiences are not always amazing. And 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 successful and then become a lead on the show or recurring. But here, I came in to a show from the very start and it feels like you're really, really part of something.
What's been the biggest challenge of working on Killjoys so far?
John-Kamen: To me, like the challenges at the beginning, I remember when we had this gun and it was so heavy. And I think it was actually getting used to it, the equipment and the armor, and making it look like I've been carrying this gun for years. I think for me it was really embodying a killer, as a bounty hunter, and getting used to, the kind of physical way of that.
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 pays off, that people really enjoy it. 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 really want to get it right and you really want to create characters and a world that's believable and people are going to buy into.
Macfarlane: That's a really good point, yes. And especially being aware that there is more of a reverence and sort of the intelligence of the audience in this genre than any other genre I've worked in and wanting to do them right.
Photo Credit: Syfy
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