One of the nice things about going to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo is being exposed to exciting new sci-fi television shows. Orphan Black is a new science fiction television series about a woman who witnesses the suicide of an exact duplicate of herself, and how she gets sucked into this duplicate’s life. She discovers there are more clones – and someone’s hunting them all down. It’s a Canadian production which will be distributed by BBC worldwide, and it’s already getting a lot of positive feedback and fan reaction.
I had a chance to speak with two of the actors from the show - Jordan Gavaris (Felix) and Dylan Bruce (Paul). They both joked how they provide a lot of eye candy for the viewers. "Actually my first costume fitting involved a sock...so that tells you a lot about our show sometimes," Dylan said. While a little sex appeal doesn’t hurt, Jordan thinks the portrayal isn’t gratuitous as the characterization is strong and it’s justified based on that. "Because we take the characters to such a place, we’re really figuratively stripping down...I thought it was a bit of a cop-out that we didn’t literally strip down as well."
It has been getting good numbers, so good it has been renewed for a second season. When I asked Teddy and Ajay from InnerSPACE (SPACE’s news and entertainment show) about Orphan Black, they both said they were "unequivocally over the moon and totally a fan of" this TV show. A common thread amongst those two and from Jordan and Dylan as well, was the level of writing for the characters.
Funnily enough, some other gay media have gotten their noses bent out of shape that the gay character (Felix) is flaming, bitchy, irreverent, a drug dealer and generally somewhat of an asshole - labelling the portrayal as "stereotypical". One suspects they would like all gay characters to be tireless saints.
Jordan disagrees. "I think it’s not fair that we feel in television today, being comfortable representing the gay community means only representing the gay community in a traditional sense with two partners and a child." Jordan has met men like Felix. There are good and bad elements to any person, and like in real life their sexuality is just a small part of who the person is. "He’s a brother, he’s an artist, he’s a multi-faceted human being the same way we all are."
For a science-fiction show, you can have all the pyrotechnics in the world, but what makes it keep viewers and stay on the air is the strength of the characters as they are written. That’s one reason to watch it. The fact that it’s a softer and more accessible science fiction is another. However, the final word on the show goes to Dylan: "Watch the show, it’s gritty, it’s exciting, it’s thrilling...there’s a dark humorous undertone which (Felix) lends to [it] so much. It just gets crazier and wilder as the season progresses...I’m not B-S-ing...it’s fantastic."
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Contributor Evan Kayne |
Locale Calgary |
Person Dylan Bruce | Jordan Gavaris |
Topic Celebrity Interview | Orphan Black | Calgary Expo | Comic Expo | Celebrity Video Interview | Most Read Articles in 2015 |
