Interview: Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, And Sam Huntington From ‘Being Human’

We had the pleasure of chatting with Being Human‘s Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, And Sam Huntington about the Syfy series which launches next year! Check it out below.

What’s it like in terms of having this other series and yet having to create your own characters? Has that been daunting for you?

MEAGHAN RATH: Well, we’ve — we haven’t watched that much of the British one. I watched a couple of them during the audition process just to get an idea of what the tone was for the show. But since we started, they don’t want us to watch any — anything so we have this fresh — we’re bringing something new to it. But we definitely have some really big shoes to fill because those guys are amazing, and it’s such a smart, original show.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

SAM WITWER: Yeah, you can only really hope that whatever we end up doing honors what they’ve done and brings a bigger audience to them, and in turn perhaps their audience supplements ours, and it’s a big happy family. That’s the hope.

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s the circle of television.

MEAGHAN RATH: Circle of life.

SAM WITWER: You guys have heard of the circle of television.

MEAGHAN RATH: It’s the circle of life.

SAM WITWER: Of course.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, I’m intimidated. I’m not kidding, like full on. I’ve seen a little bit of the British show and think the world of it and think the world of Russell Tovey, who plays the werewolf on the British show. So I’m — I just want to honor that and, like, obviously try and bring something different and new to it to respect him and what he does. So yeah, I’m a little — I just — but at the end of the day, I know what we’re doing is fantastic. So I’m not scared.

SAM WITWER: And I’ve only seen one episode. When I was getting ready to audition, I watched one episode. And when I got the notion that I wanted to do this project, I knew I had to stop watching so I wouldn’t unintentionally mimic what Aidan Turner is doing, which I thought was absolutely correct. So I’m like, “I need to forget what this wonderful actor is doing.” But I do love the idea that my character is named after him, so that’s kind of cool. I think that’s —

MEAGHAN RATH: It’s an homage.

SAM WITWER: That’s about right. They’ve done some wonderful things, and they deserve the credit for it.

MARK STERN [Syfy executive]: Yeah. Jeremy and, I think —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Anna.

MARK STERN: Jeremy and Anna have done a really nice job of kind of weaving through that and —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Lovely job. I mean, honestly, they’re geniuses. Yeah, yeah, because it’s got to be really hard for them. You know what I mean?

SAM WITWER: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Having this — it’s one thing to create something original, and it’s another thing to try and have original ideas through something that’s already been woven. I mean, it’s tricky.

MARK STERN: Yeah. Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke, who are the showrunners — writer/showrunners of our version.

SAM HUNTINGTON: And just awesome people.

MEAGHAN RATH: So much fun.

SAM WITWER: Cool.

MEAGHAN RATH: Love them.

Have you met your counterparts, your British counterparts, the actors?

MEAGHAN RATH: No, never.

SAM WITWER: Negative.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Can’t wait.

MEAGHAN RATH: Might be awkward.

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s not going to be awkward. It’s going to be awesome.

SAM WITWER: Just fight them.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Just fight them. Write that down.

(Laughter.)

SAM WITWER: Right. I think we’re all looking forward to it.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah, we can’t wait.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Very, very much.

SAM WITWER: Because we owe them a debt of gratitude in a big way.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, totally.

MEAGHAN RATH: And what we hope is that fans of the British one will be fans of ours and fans of ours will be fans of the British one —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Exactly.

MEAGHAN RATH: — and that we all just sort of help each other.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Right.

SAM WITWER: Circle of television?

SAM HUNTINGTON: Circle of television.

SAM WITWER: Is that what we call it?

SAM HUNTINGTON: Didn’t we already talk about this?

SAM WITWER: Yeah, the circle of television.

Are you going to be, like, holding Meaghan up on a rock somewhere? SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, exactly.

How exactly will your show differ from the British series?

SAM WITWER: Having only seen one episode, hard to say. But what we can say is that what they did in six episodes for their first season, we have 13 to go through that sort of — that storyline. So there’s a lot of things that we’re doing that they did not do.

For example, the — what’s the name of the character that Aidan Turner kills in — the Rebecca character.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I don’t know.

MEAGHAN RATH: I don’t know.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I don’t know. Yeah, that one I don’t know.

SAM WITWER: Well, in the beginning of the first episode, I inadvertently turn a girl into a vampire. Hey, guys, you can’t blame me. She’s beautiful. But that character is a lot larger of a character and has much more influence on my character than the British version. She’s like a legitimate love interest, whereas in the British version, from what I understand, it’s not quite that way. So there’s a lot of things that where we’ll take maybe an idea that they have and expand it into entire plotlines. And of course, there are other things that go in completely different directions because they didn’t have the screen time.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, my sister is a character on the show, on our show, which is not in the British series. And so that helps me, the character of Josh, kind of — it helps the audience kind of understand his journey. And it informs who he is, and I think it’s a really, really nice element. And the actor who plays — the actress who plays my sister, Alison Louder, is a tremendously talented girl. And yeah, so that’s a different element. That actually kind of is through the entire season.

MEAGHAN RATH: And then I think for ours, in our version, we get to see a lot more of these characters’ backstories and how they became the way they are. So we have a lot more time to develop these people —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

MEAGHAN RATH: — than the British one had.

MARK STERN: I think you also spend more time in the vampire world and get more sense of —

MEAGHAN RATH: Oh, yeah.

SAM WITWER: With Mark Pellegrino as Bishop, we get a lot more time with him than, say, we got with the Herrick character on the British series.

MEAGHAN RATH: And they’re introducing this new sect of vampires that wasn’t in the British one.

(Sam Witwer and Meaghan Rath high-five each other.)

SAM WITWER: Don’t put it out there. I’m going to knock it down.

MARK STERN: She’s not used to, actually, people being able to touch her.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, I know. That is weird, by the way.

MEAGHAN RATH: I know. It’s all very strange.

SAM WITWER: We’ll be shooting scenes, and we will always be mindful to not — we can’t touch her in any way. SAM HUNTINGTON: Brush against her.

SAM WITWER: So we’ll just be kind of sitting next to each other, and our shoulders will brush. “Cut.”

MEAGHAN RATH: “No, cut.”

SAM WITWER: “What? What’s wrong?”

MEAGHAN RATH: And it’s a complex I’ve brought into my normal life. Anytime anyone touches me, I’m just like, “Oh, God, no.”

SAM WITWER: It’s wrong. It’s wrong.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Through watching the first two episodes, I was constantly conscious of, like, if anyone was touching. It didn’t matter if it was you. Just anyone.

MEAGHAN RATH: We all have it now.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Just like, “Oh, they’re touch- — no, that’s not going — they’re going to have” —

SAM WITWER: Personally I haven’t touched anyone, except for right now, in, like, a month.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I know.

MEAGHAN RATH: This was the first time.

You should talk a little bit more about that, Meaghan, in terms of what they’ve done with the set in terms of the set design.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Oh, that’s cool, actually, yeah. That’s good.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah. Well, our house, the interior of our house is pretty amazing. Our art department is unbelievable. The design is so great.

MARK STERN: But in terms of your couch and the cushions that you have to sit on —

MEAGHAN RATH: Oh, yeah, that. Okay. Well, I have thighs things called “Sally’s hard pillows.” I don’t know if that’s the technical name.

SAM HUNTINGTON: No, I think —

SAM WITWER: No, that’s the brand name.

SAM HUNTINGTON: SHPs.

MEAGHAN RATH: So anytime I’m sitting on a couch or lying on a bed, it’s all rigged that it’s literally cement.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

MEAGHAN RATH: It’s so hard. And because Sally can’t make a dent in anything —

SAM WITWER: Can’t leave an impression.

MEAGHAN RATH: — because she just floats on top of things, which is so uncomfortable.

SAM WITWER: Which is great because you always have to recline in a comfortable position.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah, I always have to pretend, like, looking really comfortable. It’s so awkward.

SAM HUNTINGTON: The best is when you don’t realize that something is Sally-ized.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: So you just go to sit down, and you, like, break your tailbone on — like, “You have to do this all day?”

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s great.

(Laughter.)

With science fiction — and of course we already have the British version and now the American version — is that sometimes fans aren’t always so receptive. So I’m sure we’re still early in the game, so it’s kind of hard to run into people yet. But what do you think is going to be your approach if somebody does come up and say, “Well, why are you remaking the British version? How dare you do that”? How do you kind of bring them into the fold of this is a whole larger universe?

SAM WITWER: Well, you know — I welcome it.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I’m going to make them feel really uncomfortable.

(Laughter.)

I’m going to throw it right back at them and be like, “Those pants don’t match that shirt.”

(Laughter.)

Make them feel really self-conscious. I guarantee you they’ll turn right around and walk away.

SAM WITWER: Or they’ll see me, and I’ll say, “Where are you going?”

SAM HUNTINGTON: And you know what? Listen, it’s one guy. We don’t need one guy to watch the show.

SAM WITWER: Right.

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s one guy.

SAM WITWER: Get rid of that guy.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Whatever. Get rid of that guy.

SAM WITWER: Who are you, guy? SAM HUNTINGTON: He’s not the type of guy I want watching the show.

SAM WITWER: I don’t like that guy.

(Laughter.)

You’re not allowed to watch the show.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Exactly right.

SAM WITWER: Right.

SAM HUNTINGTON: What’s your name?

SAM WITWER: A lot of shows that have existing fan bases have had difficult — well, not difficulty, but they’ve had a growing period, the burn-in process. For example, no one talks about anymore that when “Battlestar” came on, that there was this huge fan backlash because Starbuck was a girl and all this crap. No one really talks about that anymore. Now we just remember, “Oh, everyone loved ‘Battlestar.'” It’s like, “No. No, we didn’t. They didn’t.” So I’m fully prepared for whatever they want to throw at us. The fact of the matter is what we’re doing, I believe, having seen two episodes, is very good.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

SAM WITWER: I don’t think people are going to not enjoy it, but they also have absolutely the right to like the British version if they do and —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Well, people — I think that the thing is that people love the British show so much.

SAM WITWER: Mm-hmm.

MEAGHAN RATH: Their fans are so —

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s hard to see — yeah, their fans are —

SAM WITWER: So there will be some form of —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, of backlash or people kind of being —

SAM WITWER: That guy might be —

MEAGHAN RATH: Protective of their show.

SAM HUNTINGTON: That guy.

SAM WITWER: That guy might be ten guys —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Exactly.

SAM WITWER: — or twenty guys or more.

SAM HUNTINGTON: And there might be a chick in there somewhere.

SAM WITWER: There could be a chick.

MEAGHAN RATH: Just — yeah, just peppered in.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I’m a fan of the British show. You know what I mean? So, like, I understand that, and I think that — I haven’t seen that much of it, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a lovely, amazing, original incredible show. So I want to say, like, “I’m with you.” Like I love that show too. I mean, I think it’s —

SAM WITWER: It should be noted Sam, he’s serious about this. I’ve seen him arrive at set more than once, and he’s been, like, “Sam, I just saw an episode of the British show.”

SAM HUNTINGTON: “We’ve got our work cut out.”

SAM WITWER: “It’s so good. We’ve got to work this out.” SAM HUNTINGTON: The problem was, like, I would start to watch, like, a little bit, and then I’d get completely sucked in. I’m like, “Oh, this is great.”

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: But I think ultimately what we’re doing is different and awesome.

MARK STERN: I would say that that’s been our attitude; right? Is that we love the British series. That’s why we wanted to adapt it.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

MARK STERN: And I think that’s a very daunting task for us.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

MARK STERN: And I think the first thing that was very important for us was we brought in British exec producer. So Rob Pursey’s involved as a consultant on the show with us and was very much involved with Anna and Jeremy in terms of what was working, what mistakes they’d made that we could avoid. Toby Whitehouse is now also involved. So it was very, very important to us that we do justice to the original because we did like it. And I think we’re very mindful — and there are definitely going to be people that are just going to have a knee-jerk reaction about why do an American version and why mess with success? And believe me, we were the first people to ask those questions.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Right.

SAM WITWER: Sure.

MARK STERN: But I think that these guys have really succeeded.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Thanks, Mark.

MARK STERN: And hopefully everyone will really feel the same way.

MEAGHAN RATH: Thanks, Mark.

SAM WITWER: Thanks, Mark.

MARK STERN: And those pants don’t match that shirt.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I know; right?

(Laughter.)

I was thinking about that when I — these are the pants that I wore to every single audition for “Being Human.”

MEAGHAN RATH: Awww.

MARK STERN: Is that right?

SAM HUNTINGTON: How do you like them apples?

MARK STERN: Really?

MEAGHAN RATH: I think we all wore the same outfit.

SAM HUNTINGTON: These pants and these shoes and guess what? Argyle socks.

MARK STERN: I knew I’d seen them somewhere before.

Was it easier for you to go into the role of a werewolf, having been a caveman before?

SAM HUNTINGTON: Caveman. That’s a great question. Yes, actually, it was because it’s such a unique, interesting process. The prosthetic makeup is bizarre. It really is truly difficult and presents a a long list of challenges. I think having an extreme background in that has been tremendously beneficial for me.

MARK STERN: Sam, just explain your background for people who —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, I’m sorry. I was on a show called “Cavemen” for ABC.

(Laughter.)

And I actually had a lovely time doing it. It was — it was, a really, really fun character. But, I was in makeup every morning at 3:00 o’clock in the morning for three and a half hours. And then the days, they were so long. I didn’t sleep for three months. It was wildly difficult. And so for this, it’s not — it’s more makeup, but it’s less applications. You know what I mean? So, like, I have to do it, like, say once every three episodes. And so for me, that’s, like, much more manageable. The challenging thing for this is, unlike “Cavemen,” where I — you know, you go in at three o’clock in the morning, and basically you sleep in the chair for three hours while they put this thing on your face and you’re very inactive, this is a very — you have to work symbiotically with the artists, and you also have to stand the entire time. So that’s the bitch. You know what I mean? It’s kind of like you have to stand — because they’re — (hits microphone.)

MEAGHAN RATH: Calm down.

SAM WITWER: Wow.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I’m really excited about this. (Laughter.)

They’re gluing this stuff onto your waistline and onto your chest. So if you’re, like, wrinkled like this, you can’t be sitting — or like this, they can’t put anything on your back. When there’s five people working on you, you have to kind of be active, and you have to, like, work with them and —

SAM WITWER: And maybe apply some makeup to them. Just why not?

SAM HUNTINGTON: I’ve been doing it.

MEAGHAN RATH: Like their hair.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, playing with their hair.

SAM WITWER: It should be noted that Sammy here would do a 17-hour day —

SAM HUNTINGTON: This has happened a couple times. This doesn’t happen all the time, but yeah.

SAM WITWER: So 17- or 18-hour day and then have a four-hour down period, which is the day’s done, “No, it’s four hours. Go to sleep. You’re done with work,” and then go right back to another 17-hour day. This has happened to this guy.

SAM HUNTINGTON: That was a weird day. I don’t even really remember that. Yeah, did the lights just flicker?

MEAGHAN RATH: I did it.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Did you do it?

MEAGHAN RATH: I did it.

SAM HUNTINGTON: So anyway, yes, that’s a great question. And I absolutely believe that it has been very beneficial to know what I’m doing.

Being Darth Vader, being “Doomsday,” and now being a vampire, what are the commonalities between those characters?

SAM WITWER: I get a lot of guys who have damaged psyches, I guess. “He just looks like he’s a guy with problems. Let’s hire him.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, exactly.

SAM WITWER: “He’s got problems; right? You have problems?” “Yeah, if it gets me hired, sure.”

SAM HUNTINGTON: “You can’t possibly be that good-looking and not have issues.” People say that a lot to —

(Laughter.)

SAM WITWER: I just want to say something real quick. The first time I met Sam Huntington —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, this was great. This was great.

SAM WITWER: You make your hair all spikey for an audition or something. And why? I don’t know. So you look like an anime character. Who knows?

SAM HUNTINGTON: Right, right.

SAM WITWER: So we show up, and we’re doing a chemistry test, and Sam sits down next to me. First time I ever met the guy. We’re going to read the scene together. And he just goes — he sits down, and he goes —

SAM HUNTINGTON: — “Do you have gray hair?”

SAM WITWER: “What’s up with your hair?”

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah. SAM WITWER: And then we just start talking about, like, my hair and —

SAM HUNTINGTON: No, you threw it right back at me.

SAM WITWER: And I was like, “Awesome, awesome. Great shirt, by the way. And thanks for doing this here.”

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, right. That was at the mix and match.

SAM WITWER: And here we are.

But in terms of the different characters, be it the Starkiller character from “The Force Unleashed” or Davis Bloome or this guy, they’re actually — the common element is that all three of those guys are really good people, in terms of who they are by their nature, but have been put in circumstances that bring them way out of them. This Aidan guy is actually — one of the things we play with a lot is that he’s too nice, and sometimes people get hurt because he’s too nice. Some girl invites him up, you know, for tea. He goes, “Well, I don’t want to hurt her feelings,” and then he goes up and kills her, like, “Oh, oops.” He doesn’t really do that. I’m exaggerating, but it’s —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Or does he?

SAM WITWER: He does. So —

SAM HUNTINGTON: He does.

SAM WITWER: He does. And he doesn’t go up out of pity, actually. He likes her a lot. Anyway, but it’s that. It’s these characters who are — in terms of their nature, they’re very good people, but their nurture is a little bit messed up. And in the case of Aidan, my character, he was a very morally upright person who was corrupted by what he became because of what the Bishop character did to him, turning him into a vampire 200-odd years back, and then lived a life of — sort of in a drug haze, completely becoming kind of, for all intents and purposes, a sociopath and still maintaining a piece of his conscious inside. And then eventually that grew into something that he had to deal with, and then for the past two years, he’s been trying to stay clean, which is very difficult. And the fun about the character, I think, is he’s rediscovering his humanity. So, you know, he’s 257 years old, so you imagine he’s seen everything, so what would a character like that be? Well, he’d be very internal, and he wouldn’t be very impressed with anything. And he wouldn’t really have — his emotions, they’d be hard to sort of get them bubbling to the surface. But the fun about it is if — if you were in kind of a drug haze for a long formative period of your life and you came out of it, the world would seem like a very, very scary place, and you would have emotional reactions in the most unexpected circumstances. So that’s the fun we have with this character is that while he is this — you know, he’s wizened and he’s seen all this stuff, at the same time, he will sometimes have panic attacks based on what he sees somewhere, or he will freak out about something because his emotions have been suppressed for, like, 200 years, and he hasn’t really been dealing with life in any kind of human way until just recently. So you have this guy who is very, very off balance. And I think in that way, we provide a character that’s kind of accessible, you know.

SAM HUNTINGTON: And that was off the cuff. He hasn’t thought about this at all.

MEAGHAN RATH: That is a great answer.

(Laughter.)

SAM HUNTINGTON: Literally has not prepared anything. Didn’t think about what his character — he literally comes to the set and doesn’t know what he’s doing.

SAM WITWER: I haven’t read the scripts.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Super weird.

SAM WITWER: Weird.

SAM HUNTINGTON: That was so articulate.

SAM WITWER: Thank you.

MEAGHAN RATH: Amazing.

SAM HUNTINGTON: I might go cry.

MEAGHAN RATH: I know.

SAM WITWER: Thank you.

So this is for all of you. Obviously you guys are going to be compared to some other vampire/werewolf movies, TV shows. Have you guys made any strides to kind of distance yourselves or, like, create your own mythology or just keep true to the classic mythology?

SAM HUNTINGTON: I mean, I — I mean, yeah. I know the vampires on our show are very different than any other vampire you’ve ever seen. I think all the characters are kind of more or less — he’s a vampire, but it’s tweaked. You know what I mean? Because I think the theory is they’ve evolved a little bit. They’ve been around for a really long time.

SAM WITWER: Also, we’re stripping away any kind of glamorous veneer —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SAM WITWER: — from the vampire thing. It’s very bottom-feeder, uncomfortable, junky stuff —

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

SAM WITWER: — you know. And even when you —

MARK STERN: But it’s fun. SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

SAM WITWER: But it’s fun. It’s great. Bring the kids.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Stern’s face just went cold.

MARK STERN: And yet it’s a laugh-riot, blue-sky comedy.

(Laughter.)

SAM WITWER: It’s the feel-good comedy of the year.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Oh, my God. But yeah, the werewolf is — I don’t think you’ve ever seen a werewolf like this before.

MEAGHAN RATH: It’s amazing. It’s so good. It’s terrifying.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, it’s really, really disturbing to watch the transformation. It’s very, very — the wolf itself is very different than anything you’ve ever seen. I don’t want to go into detail because you’ll see. But it’s a really tremendously awesome thing. Also, like, I think as far as what he is — what the character is when he’s not a werewolf is something probably you’ve never seen. You know what I mean? He’s introverted, and he’s just scared he’s going to do something wrong, hurt someone. And so he’s not the type of guy you could picture being a werewolf. So I think that’s — I think our show is so vastly different than anything —

SAM WITWER: The ghost thing.

MEAGHAN RATH: The ghost, I mean, it’s not like she’s not running around haunting people. It’s more about her dealing with her issues with loneliness and trying to find her place in the world and coming to terms with her death. So it’s more about her journey as opposed to, like, the classic scary ghost, like a poltergeist. She’s also coming to terms with her powers and what she can do and what she’s capable of, which is pretty interesting.

SAM WITWER: What’s really fun about it is that all three of the characters — the genre stuff grows out of emotional metaphors that have to do with just people.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, right.

SAM WITWER: I mean, what you just said sounds very —

MEAGHAN RATH: Also, like, that’s what makes our show different from all the other genre of vampires/werewolf/ghost shows is because, for ours, our characters aren’t necessarily embracing their supernatural powers. And it’s, like, you can take away that element of the show, and the story will still be as compelling because it’s about these people trying to retain their humanity.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Totally. That’s a great answer, Meaghan.

SAM WITWER: Nice work.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Really well done.

MEAGHAN RATH: All right. Check, check.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, exactly. I’m just here as eye candy.

MARK STERN: I don’t even know what I’m doing up here. The only thing I would say from our perspective is that it was very important, I think, when we set out with Anna and Jeremy and, as I said, with Rob’s input, to really clearly understand what our rules were and what they weren’t. And I think that’s particularly true when you’re talking about vampires because there are so many rules that we know about vampires. There’s the garlic thing. There’s the crossing the threshold. There’s the crucifix. There’s the seeing their reflection. And I think the bar is set very, very high now, especially with shows like “True Blood” that take those things and really ground them in a very clear understanding and mythology of their own. So I think that we again brought a real sense of the bar that we needed to set, or at least exceed, in the way that we approached our mythologies. And some of them are obviously going to be very similar. That’s the nature of those — you almost want them to be. There’s a certain shorthand. Some of it is which ones are they going to adopt, and then how does it get made organic into your storytelling? But even just talking about the very hard couch, I think it’s a very good example of — I think there’s nothing worse than watching a show where the ghost is supposed to be ephemeral — I’m, like, a logic freak about this stuff — the ghost is supposed to be ephemeral, and then people’s shadow fall on her or her shadow falls on them. It’s like, “But wait a minute. What? How come she can move that pillow if she’s supposed to be ephemeral?”

SAM WITWER: You guys are watching shadows too? Wow.

MARK STERN: Oh, yes.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Oh, dude, Pierre’s a genius. Our DP is —

MEAGHAN RATH: He’s unbelievable.

MARK STERN: No, no, we really are talking about shadows and — it’s all of it. And it’s stuff that hopefully is relatively invisible. It’s not meant to be belabored when you’re watching the show, but I find those things to be more present or noticeable when they are suddenly there in an unexpected way. So you may not notice — these guys didn’t even notice there are no shadows.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Well, Witwer —

MEAGHAN RATH: I noticed. SAM HUNTINGTON: Come on. Maybe Witwer.

MEAGHAN RATH: Let the record show that I noticed.

MARK STERN: Huntington didn’t notice, but we notice, and I think the audience would notice if they were there. So I think that’s — it’s really about finding an internal logic and setting your course at the beginning and really holding to it so that it all slowly rolls out. And I think one of the other things the writers have done a really nice job of is feeding it out slowly so it doesn’t come out in one big expository vomit at the beginning of the episode. “Here’s how it all works.”

SAM HUNTINGTON: Suppository vomit.

MEAGHAN RATH: Well, done.

MARK STERN: No, expository.

SAM WITWER: No, no.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Oh, expository. I misheard you. That would be a —

SAM WITWER: That’s different.

SAM HUNTINGTON: — whole different thing, you guys. Don’t listen to me.

Since all the other shows are portraying the vampires and the werewolves to be these sexy creatures, I was wondering, you know, if we can expect a lot of shirtless shots of the vampire and the werewolf.

MEAGHAN RATH: These two guys are so sexy. It’s going to blow your mind. SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah. I’m described that way all the time.

(Laughter.)

MEAGHAN RATH: Just Adonises.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Dude, literally I am a perfect specimen of man.

MEAGHAN RATH: Have you seen his chin dimple?

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, literally. It’s unbelievable.

SAM WITWER: Should I flex it?

MEAGHAN RATH: Flex it.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Mr. Incredible.

SAM WITWER: CGI.

SAM HUNTINGTON: To be honest, I think it’s not, like, overtly — it’s not like a —

MEAGHAN RATH: Gratuitous.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, it’s not gratuitous. But at the same time, I think there is a certain amount of — I think with my character — I can speak about my character — is when he’s turning into a werewolf, he feels so exposed. He feels so — he’s so, so, so scared. And I think that the nakedness really, really hits that home. You know what I mean? It really, you know, makes you feel uncomfortable for him. It makes you feel bad for him. And I think that’s — that’s part of it, for me anyway. I think he’s (referring to Sam Witwer) just got the physique of a — you know what I mean? Look at him.

SAM WITWER: Don’t do this. Don’t do this.

SAM HUNTINGTON: He takes his shirt off — MEAGHAN RATH: Perfectly crafted.

SAM WITWER: But you’re right, it is totally not gratuitous.

SAM HUNTINGTON: No, not at all.

SAM WITWER: Anytime that they’ve asked something of us, it’s made sense to the show.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Right.

SAM WITWER: So yes, it —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Plot-driven.

SAM WITWER: Yes, I can describe it as we’ve stripped the glossy veneer off stuff, but it is also a sexy show, I think.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah, very.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah, it’s very aesthetically beautiful.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah. Well, and also it is sexy.

SAM WITWER: But also sexy.

MEAGHAN RATH: So sexy.

MARK STERN: Well, no one can rock a flower dress like you.

SAM HUNTINGTON: No one can. Literally no one can.

MARK STERN: No one can. No one can.

SAM HUNTINGTON: That was a weird day too.

MAN: We have time for one last question.

MEAGHAN RATH: Run.

What’s been your favorite moment working on the show so far?

SAM HUNTINGTON: I can say being with each other every day.

SAM WITWER: Yeah, I was just going to say.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Every single day I go to set, I am so excited to be there working with these guys.

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s like — and our crew is amazing, and just everyone involved in the show is so — it’s a dream come true for an actor. For me, I can say I come to work, and I’m so excited to be at work with these guys and —

MEAGHAN RATH: Yeah.

SAM HUNTINGTON: — and having their beautiful, nuanced, excellent work elevate and make me want to do better myself. So, like, that’s — and it’s every day.

MEAGHAN RATH: That’s so nice.

SAM HUNTINGTON: It’s the truth.

MEAGHAN RATH: Well, we all feel the same way. It’s like when the three of us met for the first time, I think it was just this electric —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

MEAGHAN RATH: — explosion of amazingness. We love each other.

SAM WITWER: We’ve actually gotten the comment from directors to tone down our chemistry, which I’ve never heard that comment before. They’re like, “Can you just bring it back?” We’re like, “Why?” “Because you don’t know each other that well yet.” “Oh.” (Laughter.)

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah.

SAM WITWER: But these two, I mean, I — I want to mirror what they said about we really enjoy each other as people.

MEAGHAN RATH: We like being around each either.

SAM WITWER: We do like being around each other, but I really like — I can’t comment on my own work. I actually hate that guy when I watch him on the screen, but these two have such amazingly vivid personalities that really come across on the screen. And that’s — I mean, I think you saw a little bit of that, but it’s just — you’d simply have to put the camera on them, and suddenly there’s just all this crazy, interesting stuff that’s happening. So I think the casting is really good. And Pellegrino and Sarah Allen —

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yep.

SAM WITWER: — just all these really —

MEAGHAN RATH: John Pallo [phonetic].

SAM WITWER: Yeah, exactly. Like these really vivid — I want to say big personalities, but it’s not like their performances are big, but just the personalities —

MEAGHAN RATH: Distinct personalities.

SAM WITWER: — are distinct. Absolutely. And everyone has very different personalities from the rest, so that’s been fun to watch.

SAM HUNTINGTON: Favorite actual moment. Let me think of, like, a favorite actual moment. I don’t know.

SAM WITWER: That’s hard to come up with. SAM HUNTINGTON: I know.

MEAGHAN RATH: I can think of a lot that aren’t appropriate.

(Laughter.)

SAM HUNTINGTON: Yeah. Most of them.

Syfy Press Tour Coverage By: Emma Loggins

Responses

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  1. Really great interview! The cast is awesome. You can see how well they get along. I’m looking forward to the Syfy verison of Being Human. Being a fan of the BBC verison, I can’t wait to see what the Syfy one does.

  2. Sam Huntington was hilarious. I imagine any cast that has him in it would be a blast to be a part of. I’m really looking forward to the new series. Trying to decide if I should check out the BBC one first or just wait for the Syfy version.

  3. I love these guys already. I’m a huge Sam Witwer fan because he’s awesome and I’m totally excited for him. Meaghan is just adorable and Sam Huntington, dude – wow. The chemistry among these three is perfect. Jeremy Carver is a great writer so along with Anna Fricke, I’m sure they’ll do wonders.

    (Sam Witwer as a vampire. The fans have been waiting for this way before the show. #WishComeTrue)

  4. Oh wow that interview is hilarious! lol I love that the cast has such amazing chemistry off screen. I was unsure about checking out the US version since I’m a huge fan of the BBC version and not a huge fan of remakes…but once I heard that Jeremy Carver is a part of it I knew I would have to check it out. After reading this interview I am definitely going to be giving the show a shot. Considering they have such amazing chemistry off screen I’m quite interested to see the chemistry they bring on screen. It’ll be different and I’ll probably be comparing it to the BBC version the whole time lol but I’ll give it a shot.

    Emma, you should watch the BBC version first! It’s so very good.

  5. I’ll definitely check it out Alexa. If the preview they showed us didn’t win me over, Sam Huntington totally would have. He was hilarious 🙂

  6. I think I’d just watch for Sam Huntington haha. I always give shows three episodes. If I don’t like it after that I won’t continue it. I do think I’ll actually enjoy the Syfy version though. We’ll see. Emma, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the BBC version when you do watch it! 🙂