Mark Pellegrino has played every single character you can think of that might give you the shivers. The mysterious and enigmatic Jacob on Lost; the distressed and distraught Devil on Supernatural, and his unfortunate ‘human meat suit’ Nick; the dreaded Bishop in Being Human. More recently he starred as one of the main antagonists in The Tomorrow People, which, unfortunately, only got a single season before it was cancelled.
Like most actors, Mark seems to embody the opposite of his characters – he’s playful, mild-mannered, and rather stylish. He is also a lot taller than expected – everyone who has been on Supernatural looks short due to the rather hulking heights of the two main characters (it is probably considered to be an occupational hazard by now).
We caught up with Mark recently to discuss his past projects and his experiences in genre television – and also what it was like playing a character like the Devil, one of the most prominent storytelling roles since people began writing them down.
GC: You have been in quite a lot of genre-specific shows. What’s it like working in those areas?
MP: Really fun. You know what though? I’m bouncing around different shows, but it feels like one big family, mainly because the sci-fi genre has a huge family of followers. Regardless of what show I’m on it feels like we’re all kind of in the same house.
GC: What about The Tomorrow People? It didn’t go very far, but it was a great show.
MP: It was fun working with those kids, with Robbie [Amell]. It’s sad when a show, where you start with the ground floor and do a season all the way through, doesn’t go to the next season. And you’ve built a lot of relationships, and then you go your separate ways. It sucks.
GC: It’s a bit of a gamble with a first season.
MP: And it’s complicated, because we would switch airing nights and things got sketchy, and the audience didn’t quite get the shifts. Network politics. It’s crazy.
GC: On Supernatural you played Lucifer. Even though, through possession, Lucifer could be anyone, I think we all think of you, when we think of Satan.
MP: Right – right? Thank you very much for that! In other shows why do they always get Brits to do Lucifer? Am I the only American actor?
GC: I think so! If you have an English accent you can be villainous. Maybe that’s why your Lucifer is so kindly.
MP: Oh, I guess Pacino was Lucifer too! I just saw that recently.
GC: Well in that case, what was it like inhabiting a role that so many others have played?
MP: Pretty fantastic! Because I made it MINE! [laughs]
GC: How did you approach it?
MP: You know, it was written like an everyman, so I just approached it from the point of view of what I thought the dynamic problem was for the character. And for Lucifer, it was a family squabble. He had been betrayed and he wanted revenge, so it was a simple revenge story, I thought, and that was the way I approached it.
GC: At the last convention I went to with you there, you had no idea what was going on with Supernatural.
MP: I’m so far behind; I feel bad. Why aren’t they bringing Lucifer up though? Or should I say Nick, because Lucifer could be anybody, right?
GC: Nick was a sweet man.
MP: Nick was a sweet guy! I think he’s in a monastery somewhere recuperating from the Lucifer inhabitation. And they need to bring Nick back as the only vessel that can inhabit the Lucifer... stuff. Whatever that stuff is.
You hear that, Supernatural writers? Get on that stuff!
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