I’ll admit it, I was a little nervous about speaking with Brent Spiner during a recent press Q&A conference call with him and Warehouse 13 showrunner Jack Kenny. I’d spoken with Jack Kenny before and he’s always been a treat, but Brent Spiner? Who knew he would be such a treat? He and Kenny had a terrific rapport and they were clearly enjoying the banter. They even had a way of making each caller feel like part of the cool kids’ group.
There is one paragraph of spoilers, but you’ll see a warning; otherwise, spoilerphobes have no reason to worry. Make sure to read to the end, as there’s a tantalizing tidbit they tossed in at the very end…
The call was in support of Spiner’s guest arc in the new season of Warehouse 13, so after reporting the terrific ratings for the season premiere, the Syfy representative on the call introduced Spiner and Kenny, which elicited this response:
Jack Kenny: You sounded decidedly more excited when you said, “Brent Spiner.” I’m just saying.
Brent Spiner: He really did. Well, with good reason, Jack.
And away we go. Noreruns.net asked Brent Spiner what it was like uniting on screen with Saul Rubinek and apparently swapping the good guy/bad guy roles that they had in Star Trek: The Next Generation:
Brent Spiner: Well there was nothing apparent about, you’re going to have to wait and see what that’s all about really. But it was like swimming in a rainbow to work with Saul again. Don’t you love that Jack?
Jack Kenny: I do, I do. I feel that every day.
Brent Spiner: Yes, don’t you. No actually Saul is an amazing actor, he’s an amazing talent, and it was just fantastic to be back on stage with him. We have a history that goes beyond even Star Trek, we did a play together in 1978 at the New York Shakespeare Festival. So Saul and I have…
Jack Kenny: You were each ten years old.
Brent Spiner: …quite a history of working – yes we were ten. Well I think Saul was 11, because he is older than me.
Jack Kenny: You would say that. And it’s fun watching them work because after a while it became a war of pauses. They would each say their line with so much intensity that the next one had to beat it.
Will we still get some Brent Spiner humor even though Brother Adrian seems dark and serious?
Brent Spiner: Well I don’t know, Jack do we?
Jack Kenny: Yes, I think that it’s interesting, you get a different version of Brent Spiner humor. Because he spends the entire season basically torturing and toying with Saul. So it’s an evil humor that comes through I think in a lot of ways.
Brent Spiner: Exactly, it’s the real Brent Spiner humor.
Jack Kenny: Yes.
Brent Spiner: It’s the evil Brent Spiner humor.
Jack Kenny: It’s a really fun ride I’ll tell you, their relationship is not like anything you’re going to expect.
SciFiMafia.com was introduced next, and before we got started, this happened:
Brent Spiner: Can I ask you a question.
SciFiMafia.com: Yes.
Brent Spiner: SciFi Mafia, do you guys beat people up and stuff like that? Do you beat up nerds and…
SciFiMafia.com: When they cancel shows, sure.
Brent Spiner: Yes.
SciFiMafia.com: And when they don’t pick up shows that we want, of course, or if they don’t agree with our opinions, then we absolutely have to.
Brent Spiner: Right. I might be able to use your services. I might need your services.
SciFiMafia.com: Great, excellent.
Brent Spiner: Yes go ahead, I’m sorry.
SciFiMafia.com: Yes please do let us know.
So there’s that.
Yes, of course we were joking.
Moving on:
I was hoping that you could tell us, Jack, how the story line came about, and Brent, how you came to the role.
Jack Kenny: The story line about Brother Adrian, well we always like to have a big bad in each season, and we kind of like to play with what that big bad is and what’s underneath. Even with someone like MacPherson or Sykes, it’s never black and white, “He’s just an evil guy,” there’s always a reasonable thing going on underneath, there’s a reasonable desire.
It’s a grey area. Everybody has their reasons for doing what they’re doing, and Brother Adrian has his reasons for going after Artie as you’ll see in the next episode. It was really about giving Artie an arc for the season, and about giving a nemesis.
I went to Saul because I knew he’d be in every scene with Brother Adrian all year. And I said, “So you’re friends with Brent, right?” And he said, “Yes.” I said, “What would you think about for Brother Adrian?” And Saul was ecstatic. He said, “Oh my God, that would be my dream come true.”
Brent Spiner: And his dream did come true. And here I am. And to answer your question, from my point, Jack and Saul called me and said, “Let’s have lunch,” and I did. And they said, “Would you be interested in doing this?” And ultimately I said, “Yes, I would be very interested in doing this.” So I jumped on board and had a really amazing time in Toronto.
Jack Kenny: I remember that lunch, I remember us at the commissary at NBC Universal and my meeting you for the first time, and of course I had to pile him with accolades because he’s just like that.
I knew it had to be. I saw Brent do 1776 on Broadway, and in a weird way he’s more present in my mind as John Adams than Commander Data. And so it was a different approach from my point of view to having Brent play the part, because I knew everybody else knows him as a robot and I know him as the founder of our country.
So we approached that from a different viewpoint, and Brother Adrian is human, at least in certain ways, in certain ways maybe not. But he’s a very powerful character too, and that’s the other thing that Brent brings to the table is a sense of power without having to twirl a mustache or flex a muscle he just has a presence.
And that was what was so important for Brother Adrian is that there has to be almost a serene powerful presence that you understand when you see this guy, do what he says or you will be unhappy. And that’s very important for the relationship that we build throughout the season between Artie and Adrian.
Then I asked Brent Spiner what he enjoyed most about the role:
Brent Spiner: You know honestly what I enjoyed most is working with this company, it was just a great bunch of people from the top down, and the top being Jack. See you kiss me, I kiss you.
But seriously, and it was the opportunity to work with Saul again. And the experience, I went back and forth to Toronto six times from Los Angeles, and each time I looked forward to going because I knew I was going to have a pleasant experience.
SciFiMafia.com: Great, thank you so much.
Brent Spiner: You’re welcome.
Jack Kenny: Thanks. Don’t put out any hits on us.
Brent Spiner: No please.
Next up, SciFi Vision asked Brent Spiner what he found to be the biggest acting challenge on Warehouse 13:
Brent Spiner: Well it really is sort of general because you never know if you’re going to be able to land to the part. Acting is ephemeral, you never know whether you’re going to be able to stick the landing. And so the challenge is to always just to be as good as the material. And this case the material was good, so you know that was my task.
Jack Kenny: Brent, I know we have you in this cassock for the whole time and it’s not something that most people are used to wearing and you had to do a lot in it.
I think it looks great, very glad we went that direction, but I know at first it was a concern in terms of how much you were going to be able to do in it. Did you feel like that got in your way at all?
Brent Spiner: You know what, it really didn’t. And you’re right, I did initially think, “Oh my gosh is this going to be inhibiting in some way?” And it really isn’t, it kind of informed a lot of things and in the right way. And sometimes the externals will do that. Sometime I’m wearing it…
Jack Kenny: Yes, it gave you a real (unintelligible) stillness.
Brent Spiner: Yes, exactly. And I am wearing it right now actually.
Jack Kenny: And nothing else.
Brent Spiner: Exactly, and nothing else, as I was on the set.
Jack Kenny: Which is why those scenes have that subtext going on.
In the close ups Saul is not wearing any pants.
Brent Spiner: Exactly, so we were only shot from the waist up thank god.
SciFiVision: All right, and who…
Brent Spiner: This is SciFiVision, right?
Jack Kenny: Yes, X-Ray vision.
Brent Spiner: Just trying to give you some vision.
Once she stopped laughing, SciFiVision asked if there was a favorite scene they could share without spoiling:
Brent Spiner: Almost anything we could say at this point beyond what you’ve seen will spoil something.
Jack Kenny: I can say there’s a scene in Episode 9 that is one of my favorites. And I also like the scene coming up in this week’s episode. Because as you know, Artie turned back time 24 hours so everything is back to the way it was,
…so we know that Brother Adrian is going to be seen again. I love the first return. I love the first time we see Brother Adrian again, I think it’s so interesting the dynamics that go on are so interesting and unique between them, I love that.
Brent Spiner: The most complicated thing about playing Brother Adrian for me was figuring out who he was. I never quite knew who he was until the episode after the one we were shooting would come out.
When we were working on Episode 2, or my Episode 2, I sort of had an idea about how to play him until Episode 3 arrived. And I read that and I thought, “Oh my gosh, no, no, no, I was all wrong, let me go back.” It’s a very tricky and complicated role.
Starry Constellation Magazine asked Brent Spiner how this role differs from the others he’s played in the past:
Brent Spiner: Well it was the first monk I’ve ever played. I’ve never played a man of the cloth that I can remember. Every role is different from the one you’ve played before hopefully. This is nothing like playing an android for example.
Starry Constellation Magazine also asked him how interacting with his fans on Twitter has helped him promote his role on Warehouse 13 and get more attention for the show:
Brent Spiner: Well fortunate or unfortunate depending on your point of view, to have over a million followers on Twitter. So when I say, “Watch me” or, “Watch Warehouse 13 Monday night,” it goes out to over a million people, and that’s kind of a big number compared to say…
Jack Kenny: Your Facebook page.
Brent Spiner: Exactly, even my Facebook page, which is much smaller.
Jack Kenny: I think actually it contributed to our having such great numbers Monday.
Brent Spiner: Do you think so?
Jack Kenny: Yes, I don’t see how it could not, because it’s just a great promotional tool. I think if that’s how you want to use your one command to over a million people I suppose that’s up to you.
Brent Spiner: Yes.
Jack Kenny: I would have said, “Everybody bring me $10.” But…
Brent Spiner: Exactly. Well I tried that one already. I got about $1.50 in the mail.
Jack Kenny: Bummer, well to me that was one of the best upsides of Twitter, the notion that people can so quickly find the people that they want to find, that you follow Brent Spiner, he announces something. You go, “Oh, I love Brent Spiner, I’ll watch that.”
And it feels personal, and it’s fast and it’s right in your hand rather than, having to look for other promotional devices.
Brent Spiner: Yes, absolutely. Well it’s real interesting phenomenon, Twitter, because there are big upsides and then there are downsides. But it depends on how you use it think. And there are a myriad of uses, obviously people who are in public professions use it as a tool to promote what they’re doing, to let people know. And it’s very valuable in that way.
Jack Kenny: I on the other hand got completely burned by casually announcing two years ago I think, that we were probably going to get a Season 3, and of course that turned into, “Syfy picks up Warehouse 13 for Season 3.”
Brent Spiner: Right, exactly.
Jack Kenny: And I got my head cut off, handed to me, and I got my favorite expression for that year that I’d heard, “We need you to Tweet a detraction.”
And also asked Brent Spiner what he thinks it is about Warehouse 13 that has captured so many viewers:
Brent Spiner: Well I think Jack said it, it’s me. No I’m kidding, it’s not. I think…
Jack Kenny: You say something and that’s how it’s interpreted.
Brent Spiner: Exactly. “Brent Spiner changes Warehouse 13 forever.”
Jack Kenny: I think one of the reason we attract a broad audience is that we do action-adventure-comedy. I call it a thrilleromedy, because it’s got drama, comedy, runs and chases and it’s just a fun ride. And I think people like fun rides. It’s why the Back to the Future, Star Wars, Indiana Jones franchises have all done so well, because they’re just fun rides.
And in addition to that, I think we all create characters that care about each other and so that you care about them. It’s a family – at the end of the day — I’ve said this many times — Warehouse 13 is a family show. Almost every relationship in it familial.
Even the Brother Adrian-Artie relationship is very, very much like two brothers, which is one of the great advantages of having Brent play it, because Saul and Brent act very much like two brothers. And they have that inherent chemistry going on, so you turn a camera on them and it just comes through. And it leads very well into the familial nature of our show.
Brent Spiner: …I think – it’s just a darn good show period. Jack writes a really wonderful show and it’s entertaining and it’s smart. And that’s a real change of pace.
Jack Kenny: Thank you Brent.
Robin of Fangirlconfessions.com was introduced next, which elicited this, before a question was asked:
Jack Kenny: I don’t know, Brent, what kind of Fan Girl confession do you have?
Brent Spiner: I don’t know, but I’d like Robin to be the first to confess right now. Tell us something you’ve never told anyone.
Robin Brooks: When I was 10 I wanted to marry Data, that’s it.
Brent Spiner: I’m going to marry Data, well that (unintelligible).
Robin Brooks: Not to you, Data, the actual character. I thought Data was you.
Brent Spiner: Well I’m glad you can distinguish between the character and me, some people can’t.
Then she was able to ask Jack Kenny to name the weirdest artifact that he’d thought of, but not used on the show:
Jack Kenny: We don’t usually approach from an artifact first, we usually approach it from a story line, an emotional story line, what’s going on with somebody that they would use something. And then we back up into what they use and what the problems of that is.
We knew we wanted to turn back time 24 hours and the first thing that occurred to me was the 24 hour date line and how that sort of a magical thing that suddenly you jump 24 hours when you cross the International Data Line kind of thing that time in a weird way changes. And then my first thought was we’d use Magellan’s sextant, and then did more research and found out, “Well they didn’t have sextants then, they used astrolabes.” So we had to get into that.
I find the research into all these things incredibly exciting and unique. And another artifact, which I think a dicey one to use, but which I think would be interesting is Hitler’s microphone.
Brent Spiner: Yes.
Jack Kenny: A microphone that was just imbued with all the hatred of that man and hey, it falls into the hands of a radio shock jock.
Brent Spiner: Wow, I like that. Can I play that too do you think?
Jack Kenny: Sure, we’ll put a wig on you.
Brent Spiner: Good.
She then asked Brent Spiner what he would invent if he could create his own artifact:
Brent Spiner: If I could invent my own artifact, gee that’s tough. Can you give me like an hour?
Jack Kenny: I think you could use something that signs your signature many, many times.
Brent Spiner: That would be excellent. Actually we talked about how fun it would have been, had we not already done this, to have used Data as an artifact.
Jack Kenny: Yes, that would be cool. Who knows, maybe that’s how we bring you back.
Brent Spiner: There we go. All right.
Tim from Tv Overmind told Brent Spiner that he’s a fan and proud owner of Spiner’s cd Ol’ Yellow Eyes Is Back, and asked if there’s any chance that Brother Adrian might burst into song throughout his arc on Warehouse 13:
Brent Spiner: I think that’s a great idea Tim. Jack what do you think, maybe a big musical number when we bring Brother Adrian back.
Jack Kenny: Sure, we can – maybe we’ll even shoot something and insert it into an episode. Saul sings too doesn’t he?
Brent Spiner: Yes, of course.
Jack Kenny: I’d love to see the two of you in a soft shoe.
Brent Spiner: You know what, that would be kind of fun really.
Jack Kenny: It would be great.
Brent Spiner: It’s a great idea Tim, and if it happens we will not be giving you credit for it.
TV Overmind also asked Brent Spiner if he had plans for releasing more albums in the future. Spiner asked if he had heard of his album Dreamland:
Brent Spiner: It’s so much better than Ol’ Yellow Eyes Is Back. It’s on my Web site or it’s on Amazon, either place. But TheRealBrentSpiner.com or Amazon. It’s called Dreamland, it’s really good. I say that and I hardly ever say that about anything, but – and it’s not particularly good because of me, but it’s a really interesting production and I sing with this woman who’s a genius whose name is Maude Maggart. She’s Fiona Apple’s sister and she’s unbelievable. So check it out.
Next TV Overmind asked Jack Kenny to talk about his approach to collecting strangers and forming them into a “found family”:
Jack Kenny: I didn’t set out to write this way as a writer, but I find that the way I approach every script that I ever write is as a family because that’s just what I know.
I wouldn’t begin to know how to write a cold procedural, although I certainly recognize the value of procedurals and the fun that people have with them. I just don’t know how to do that. I only know how to write characters who love and fight and do all those things like a family does because it just feels natural to me and that’s the kind of thing I want to watch. I like watching show that are family shows and I think that almost every good show is a family show.
You get to ER, or going back to St. Elsewhere or the Mary Tyler Moore Show, they’re all family shows, they all have family dynamics. Ultimately they all behave that way because I think that’s what people can relate to. Because at the end of the day you don’t really want to see a show about a workplace that’s purely a workplace because we all come from those.
So I don’t know that it’s terribly relaxing to come home and sit down and watch a show about people and petty jealousies without that added ingredient of people who actually care about each other. And so I think that has a lot to do with why I like to go in that direction.
I always feel like if they care about each other you’ll care about them. I don’t know any other way to write. It’s what I like to watch.
Any hit show at any level of success is lightning in a bottle. So many things have to get in line for a show to be a hit, and the toughest one is the casting. You never know at the start if you’re getting it right or not. You just hope and pray that you’re finding the right dynamic.
I know that even with Titus the idea of finding the right guy to play his dad, when we found Stacy Keach we knew we had it. With this show when I first looked at it, I didn’t shoot the pilot, I came in on Episode 2 and took it over from there, and I knew Eddie (McClintock) from years ago and I knew Saul’s work obviously very well. And I have never met Joanne (Kelly), but I could recognize the banter and the connection and I think the same thing happened in actually Eddie and Jo’s audition, you could just tell there was a dynamic there that was interesting.
And Saul just rounded out the picture. These people relate to each other like family. They don’t relate to each other like workplace. It’s just naturally the way they’re doing it. And that’s what lead me to think, “Well we need a younger sister, this show needs a younger sister.”
We’ve got dad and the crazy aunt and brother and sister and Artie needs somebody, he needs a sorcerer’s apprentice. And I’d worked with Allison (Scagliotti) and I knew the kind of actor she was and what she brings to the table. And these are energies that you strive very hard to bring together or you just luck out and they happen to work. And in our case I think it was a little bit of both.
TV Overmind then asked that question to which we all wanted the answer: What’s the status with the H.G. Wells spinoff series?
Jack Kenny: Nothing is ever dead in Hollywood. We still have the notion. Bob Goodman and I have kicking around the idea of H.G. Wells prequel, and it wasn’t really about Warehouse 12, but it was about her character being kind of a Sherlock Holmesy type character in New York City in the 1890’s.
It’s problematic because it’s really expensive to shoot it – to make a period show in 1890’s New York, it’s a fortune. And so we’re still kicking that around, we’re still working with Syfy on it, it’s not right now currently at the top of their development slate, but like I say, “Nothing is dead in Hollywood until there’s a stake through its heart,” and right now I don’t think there’s a stake through our hearts. So it might happen, you never know.
Next up was Brandon with SpoilerTV (Jack Kenny said “I guess we have to be careful what we say to Brandon of Spoiler TV“), who asked Jack Kenny if he would talk about what artifacts we’ll be seeing this season. Brandon must have worked some kind of magic, because even though Eddie McClintock and Saul Rubinek weren’t allowed to answer that one during their Q&A session, Jack Kenny coughed up a lot of information. This, therefore, is ironically the only really spoilery section of the session, so scoot right on past the next paragraph if you want to be surprised:
Jack Kenny: Yes, sure. There’s an artifact that belonged to Lovecraft that’s coming. As we teased at the end of last season and at the end of the last episode you’ll be seeing Maelzel’s metronome again. There’s an artifact that creates tornados.
Bobby Fischer’s marbles show up, I think they left Bobby Fischer a while back, but then we find them. We see Scott Joplin’s cigarette case. As you remember last season Sykes had a bunch artifacts in that airplane hangar and our gang has to go and retrieve them all, so there’s a whole bunch of artifacts there that have to be collected. We will be hearing again from Lewis Carroll’s mirror that shows up again.
We’ve done some interesting things with artifacts too. In one episode there’s an artifact that’s actually inside of someone that has to be dealt with and neutralized. So that’s unique for us.
And we’ll also see the birth of an artifact in an upcoming episode. We’ll learn how an artifact is born, and you saw the football in Episode 1 how it keeps tracks of artifacts and that it keeps track of artifacts that we know about, that are birthed, and whether or not we have to collect them.
So we do open up the mythology quite a bit with artifacts this year and learn more about how they’re made and how they’re done. And we learn a little bit more about Mrs. Frederick, who she is, how she exists and what her life has been like.
Okay, spoilers over. Moving on, SpoilerTV noted that we’ve seen quite a few stars from the Star Trek franchise on Warehouse 13 and so asked Brent Spiner if there was anyone from Star Trek that he’d like to have on the show with him.
Brent Spiner: (deadpans) No, I don’t really care for any of those people. I missed Jeri Ryan by about 12 hours I think, that was kind of exciting. And you know what, truthfully anybody from any of the shows would be fantastic, it’s a great bunch of people.
The Outhouse asked if the web series Fresh Hell was something that Brent Spiner had wanted to do for a long time or was it just kind of a spur of the moment thing, and if there’s a definite stopping point for the series or if it will go on indefinitely:
Brent Spiner: Well thanks for asking about Fresh Hell and let me just say, FreshHellSeries.com while I’m here – I’d been playing with this idea for a long time actually, quite a long time.
I worked very briefly with the director, Chris Ellis, on a project and I told him the idea and he thought it was a cool idea, and he said, “Let me talk to my friend Harry Hannigan who’s a writer and I think he’ll be good for this too.” And so we all got together and you’ve seen the result. And right now the plan is as I’ve told them already, “I don’t want to do this for more than 20 years.”
The Outhouse: Nineteen maybe.
Jack Kenny: It’s good to know your limit.
Brent Spiner: Yes, 19. I wouldn’t be sad if it only goes 19.
The Outhouse followed up by asking if Spiner would want to do another web series whenever Fresh Hell concludes, and whether he is considering shopping Fresh Hell to another format:
Brent Spiner: It’s where it is right now, I would love it if it was on television and I’d love to have a television series, but since nobody asked me to do one, the beauty of the internet and the Web is that you can do your own. And it has great advantages and it has some disadvantages, the major one being you don’t make any money.
But the advantages being, and Jack probably has experienced this in working with a network is nobody second-guesses your material. You can do whatever you want to do without somebody saying, “No we don’t like that do something else.” And there are other advantages. The instant worldwide feedback. So it’s been a really pleasant journey so far. Should one of the networks want to put it on air well we’ll consider that.
And what about a DVD collection and maybe some bonus features, maybe that’s a way to make a little money?
Brent Spiner: Well perhaps, or I could maybe lose a lot of money that way. But we’ll see, that seems to be my habit in life so we probably will do a DVD at some point.
Any chance of seeing Jonathan Frakes and other Star Trek alumni on the web series?
Brent Spiner: I would love to have Jonathan on and I’m sure he will be on eventually. But I don’t want to pepper it too quickly with my Sci-Fi Star Trek buddies because I just didn’t want to take advantage of them. But I think little by little you’ll see everybody.
Was Spiner a fan of sci-fi growing up as a kid, and was it his plan to do so much sci-fi work?
Brent Spiner: Well yes, it wasn’t a plan. I’m not like really zeroed in focused on sci-fi, but if it’s good sci-fi I like it. I like Westerns too, I like comedy, I was much more of a Lucy kind of guy than I was a Star Trek kind of guy. But fate has taken me in this direction and as Robert Frost said, “That made all the difference.”
(Jack Kenny and interviewer laugh)
Brent Spiner: Thank you Jack.
Jack Kenny: It’s not often that Robert Frost gets a laugh.
Brent Spiner: No truly, and I hoped he would. A full house laugh actually, and both of you laughed. So go ahead.
Are there other sci-fi shows on which he’d like to appear?
Jack Kenny: It feels like Commander Data is a natural for Being Human.
Brent Spiner: I think my association with sci-fi is just happenstance. Really my bag, if I have one, has always been comedy and I just have found my way into this. I don’t know how it happened and I’m tearing at the walls trying to get out. No, I’m not.
Jack Kenny: Comedy is the hardest thing to do and I feel like the best actors have comedy in their soul because there’s just a light behind your eyes even when you’re doing the heavy drama there’s still something going on behind the eyes that doesn’t make it pure melodrama, that notion of comedy makes it actually real drama because life has everything in it like that.
So I feel like that’s what makes Brent such a strong actor is because he has such a history and a background in comedy that he brings that much more strength to his drama.
Brent Spiner: Thank you Jack.
Jack Kenny: You know, hey it’s true. It’s true. As David Garrick said on his deathbed, “Mr. Garrick are you in pain?” And he said, “No, dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
Brent Spiner: Exactly. I’ve always thought Olivier was a comedian.
Jack Kenny: Yes.
Brent Spiner: And in a lot of ways Brando is.
Jack Kenny: Well he certainly knows how to turn it on. I can remember the movie he did with Matthew Broderick, there was a tremendous sense of self-deprecation comedy.
Brent Spiner: That was a great movie.
Jack Kenny: Yes.
Sellivision said to Jack Kenny that Kenny had mentioned before that the great thing about Warehouse 13 is that it’s a fun ride. Given the darkness of the first episode of the new season, will the show be picking up more fun aspects throughout the season?
Jack Kenny: We’ll never drop the fun from this show, there will always be, even in the darkest episodes, a notion of comedy, because I think that’s when comedy is most useful and I think that’s when people can relate to it. And that’s when these characters specifically are great at finding a moment.
And it’s not like they’re making a joke, they are just trying to deal with the darkness themselves and an awful lot of people deal with darkness by making jokes. I do, whenever I’m intensely sad, I will very quickly try to move to a humor place to take myself out of it.
So we’ll always have that and we do have it all year. All season we deal with it. And we get into some dark stuff this season, there’s some heavy duty stuff. As we said, “Artie has created evil that he’ll have to live with the rest of his days,” and we take that seriously.
We want that to have real consequences this year, because there has to be real consequences in this world otherwise the stakes will never be high enough, there will never be any real danger. You’ll always think, “Oh they’ll get out of it by blah-blah.”
So there has to be consequences for what happens, but at the same time people have to be able to move on, they have to be able to heal themselves and move forward. And the best way for anybody to heal themselves is with humor and with laughter and with making somebody smile. And so I mean that’s sort of Pete’s raison d’etre, he will always will make a joke, always, even when his life is hanging in the balance, he’ll always be able to make a joke. He makes several in the premiere.
Just trying to get through it, that’s his mechanism for getting through. I think Pete sort of leads the charge in, “I can get through life as long as I can make myself laugh or make others laugh.” That’s how Pete gets through things. So yes, it will always be a weapon in our arsenal. And that’s the way I look at comedy and jokes, as a weapon in the arsenal to combat life’s downers.
… it will continue providing joy and laughter. But like I say, “There has to be a reality to the life and to the world, and I think if we just did artifact romps every week that I think even those fans would get tired of that and say, “Well can there be some substance to it as well more than just a romp?” And we still do plenty of romps, there’s plenty of romping to be had between now and the end of this first set of ten.
But at the same time I also want it to land a little bit and these characters they have to keep moving and growing and going through things as human beings. So in order for us to continue to want them to succeed and to root for them to succeed they have to go through tribulations in order for us to root for them.
Brent Spiner: And that’s why he runs this show because he knows the answers. That was fantastic Jack.
Jack Kenny: Well thank you Brent.
Brent Spiner: Yes, and really true you know.
Then my poor friend Kyle at noreruns.net was reintroduced for a follow-up question:
Brent Spiner: Not Kyle again.
Jack Kenny: Oh my god did you hear him on the phone.
Brent Spiner: He’s still here.
Jack Kenny: I mean of all the people to ask a second question noreruns.(com)? Really.
Yes they were joking and yes Kyle laughed. Then he asked Jack Kenny how this year’s extended 20 episode season changed how he planned out the season and how Brent’s episodes will be laid out throughout the season:
Jack Kenny: I’ve never done this many hour-long in a row and let me be the first to say, “I don’t recommend it.” It’s almost killing me. Because it’s just a lot of episodes to keep in your head. But it’s sort of two seasons.
The first ten really follow an arc unto themselves and as we usually do, end with a major cliffhanger and major emotional turmoil. Thing that happens at the end of Episode 10 that we then pick up in the following season, Episode 11 and continue. And then that arc takes a different turn and we have to solve that problem that we’ve created in these first ten.
And every season we create a problem and at the end of the season that has to be solved and then overcome in the following season, another problem. So it’s really two seasons, it doesn’t really connect, but on the other hand, we had to basically break out two full arcs for our characters to go through. And yet they were connected.
So it’s been a challenge in that it’s just a tremendous amount of work. I’m blessed with a brilliant writing staff that is constantly churning out new ideas and new ways to approach things, and just pumping out great stuff. we had a 14 week prep period before we even started shooting where the writers just sat in the room for 14 weeks breaking out the arcs, breaking out the stories, figuring out where it all went.
When we started shooting in February we had eight scripts written, essentially, the whole first season. And then we just had to wrap it up. And we’re kind of at that same place now before we start our back eight episodes coming up. We’ve got all but the last two in some sort of script form.
So it’s really just a question of a lot of work and really putting in the time and the effort. I’m hoping to go back to 13 someday.
Essentially the Brother Adrian character wraps up in the first ten episodes. I will not rule out bringing Brent back again because I absolutely just love working with him. So if I have my druthers we’ll see Brother Adrian once again.
Brent Spiner: Well thank you, and I will not rule out coming back again, because I need a job. No, because I love working with Jack and Saul and Eddie and the crew, it was fantastic.
NoReruns.net also asked Jack Kenny if there is any added pressure to make sure he gets the character right when the guest star is a sci-fi icon like Brent Spiner, and asked Brent Spiner if he worries about the loyalty of his diehard fans when he works on another sci-fi show:
Brent Spiner: Well I personally worry whenever I do anything. That’s just who I am. I’m a worrier. And acting is scary. It’s not something I just do casually, I’m always worried whether I’m going to deliver the goods and give the audience and the people who’ve hired me what they need. And so yes, it does concern me.
Jack Kenny: And I approach just like any other actor. I’m not a big fan of winking to the past that the actor has had with another role. I think that the whole point is to see them do something else, something different, because you like them as an actor. Otherwise, we’d have Commander Data rather than Brother Adrian.
So my feeling is I just want to hire great actors. And I feel like we – that’s what we get with somebody like Brent or Jeri Ryan or Kate Mulgrew or Rene Auberjonois; yes they have a sci-fi icon background, but they’re also magnificent actors in their own right. And so they bring that to the table which is probably why they’re sci-fi icons by the way.
Then I was reintroduced for a follow up question. They were much nicer to me:
Brent Spiner: Erin we have missed you so much. It’s like God, the rest of these people have been such a drag.
Jack Kenny: We were just talking about, “When are we going to see her again?”
Brent Spiner: Yes really.
Jack Kenny: She never calls, she never writes.
SciFiMafia.com: I know, I’m so sorry about that. The Freshman, by the way, is the name of that Brando movie.
Brent Spiner: Oh The Freshman, that’s right.
Jack Kenny: The Freshman, right yes, thank you.
SciFiMafia.com: And Dreamland is also on iTunes now Brent, just so you know (though if you purchase tracks individually you might miss out on the narrative – E.W.).
Brent Spiner: Oh yes, for download on iTunes, thank you.
SciFi Mafia.com: Both of you have such a variety of talent, I’m wondering if each of you have a current preference, for Brent if it’s movies or TV or stage or recording studio, and for Jack, if you prefer writing scripts or music or producing or directing or acting?
Brent Spiner: Well for me, seriously I’m not being glib when I say, “I just like to work.” And particularly like to work on good projects. But I don’t have a preference. As long as it’s quality material I’m really happy to be there.
Jack Kenny: And I’ve never written a screenplay, so I have no idea what it’s like to write for film or movies. I have friends who do it and I know that it’s a considerably slower process in terms of getting something done, which is why I love television, it’s very immediate. You find out right away if it’s going to be shot, if it’s going to be done, if it’s going to go on.
And you get to see the results right away. And it is a killer schedule, 8 days to shoot an episode and then you’re right on to the next one.
I always tell people who want the extra 4 or 5 takes, “You know what, it’s not perfect, it just ends.” It can’t be it just, if you’re lucky you get it right, you generally certainly get it close to right, and we always do I think. And that’s the joy of working with really talented actors and crew and directors and writers. But I do love the immediacy of it and the quick moving train through a station that it is. I’ve never written a play. I wrote a short play, which was fun.
I also like the fact that television changes every week. It’s an entirely new script every week. And especially with our show, we get to throw them into completely different situations, different locations, sometimes the episodes had different themes, just a whole different tenor to them. I love that.
I think I have found my bliss writing for television. I think that’s the fun place for me. And do love acting, I just didn’t love the business of acting. I didn’t like waiting by the phone. So I can live without that again.
SciFiMafia.com: Obviously Warehouse 13 is going to keep you really busy, but do you have other projects you can talk about?
Jack Kenny: I have not had time really to do anything. We’re remodeling our kitchen. I can talk to you about that. Do you know any good stucco people?No – I actually have a very good person.
No, I haven’t had time. I’ve taken a couple of other projects into UCP and Syfy with other writers and I’ve worked on the H.G. (Wells) prequel spinoff with (writer) Bob Goodman, more in supervisory capacity than my actually writing them because I just am overwhelmed.
And I’ve got three or four projects on a back burner that I haven’t really been able to focus on to give any attention to because of the schedule of this. But we wrap in November and I’ll hopefully have four or five hours after that that I can focus on other things.
SciFiMafia.com: No kidding! And Brent?
Brent Spiner: Yes? Yes, and focus on me too.
Jack Kenny: I have to write a project for Brent apparently.
Brent Spiner: Yes. Actually, yes that’s one of the projects that Jack is focusing on is the Brother Adrian detective series that’s coming.
Jack Kenny: Actually we do have an idea for a series we want to do but we can’t talk about that.
Brent Spiner: We do. My biggest project of course right now, aside from this and looking for work is Fresh Hell, and we’re going to have a third season of that. We’ve just started thinking about where we want to go with it. And that and doing a myriad of personal appearances, which I enjoy doing.
SciFiMafia.com: Great, can’t wait. Thank you both so much.
Brent Spiner: Thank you.
Jack Kenny: Thank you.
And with that, the session concluded. It was obviously one of the most fun Q&A sessions in which I’ve had the pleasure to participate. It was an honor and a pleasure to speak with Brent Spiner and Jack Kenny, and we thank them most sincerely for their time and talent and wit.
Warehouse 13 airs Mondays at 9/8c on Syfy.
