It’s the crossover event of the summer! SyFy’s Warehouse 13 and Eureka are lending resident geeks to each other’s shows, exciting fans of both shows. In a recent Q&A session with online media outlets, the stars of the crossover, Allison Scagliotti and Neil Grayston answer all of our questions about the crossover, geeking out on sci-fi guest stars, and their thoughts on being the new, young face of geek. Here are excerpts of this Q&A that yours truly was lucky enough to participate in. Don’t miss the teaser and sneak peek of the second half of the Warehouse 13 / Eureka crossover event in this post!
ON HOW THE CROSSOVER CAME ABOUT
Q courtesy of Joshua Maloni with Niagara Frontier Publications: So tell us a little bit about how this came about and what made the crossover appealing for both of you.
Allison Scagliotti: Neil, do you want to start or shall I?
Neil Grayston: I – say you – you go ahead. Yes, you do the start because you’re the one who introduced yourself to me at Comic-Con.
Allison Scagliotti: That’s true, all right. I believe that the nugget of the crossover idea began when Neil and I met at last year’s Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2009. I watched the Eureka panel moderated by Josh Gates, which was hilarious. Then, at the Syfy party I marched up to Neil and I said, “Neil, let’s be friends.” And he said, “Okay, it sounds good.” We were inseparable from that moment on and we had this immediate dorky chemistry where we were finishing each other’s sentences and, you know, delivering punch lines at the same time. Our…
Neil Grayston: Yes, that was weird that first time when we just made the same joke and we stopped, and we’re like we just made that joke at the same time. And…
Allison Scagliotti: Yes.
Neil Grayston: …we just made the same movements for that joke, too. That’s weird.
Allison Scagliotti: Yes, we have the same sense of humor. We did on the set, too. And it really, you know, our chemistry played so well in life that I think our respective showrunners and, you know, the good people over at Syfy realized what a commodity it can be to blend these shows. But I think one really believes existing in the same universe and so here we are Claudia and Fargo at the center of this awesome crossover event.
Neil Grayston: One year later…
Allison Scagliotti: Yes.
WHAT BRINGS ABOUT THE NERD EXCHANGE BETWEEN EUREKA & WAREHOUSE 13
Q courtesy of Kenn Gold with MediaBlvd: Without going into the spoilers, but can you give us kind of the set up for this crossover within the plots of the show? Like what – why are the two characters going to the other town?
Allison Scagliotti: So Fargo comes to the Warehouse to update our computer system. Little does he know that much like all of the artifacts, the Warehouse has an organic human element that it’s not as simple to upgrade as just a new plug-in. So the Warehouse fights back because we discover that an important component of the computer system is half of a man’s brain.
So we have Renee Auberjonois from Deep Space Nine guesting as a Warehouse agent whose brain was compromised. And we – Claudia and Fargo connect in the Warehouse and put their heads together to sort of save the day and avoid the (severe) Eureka (gack) out to kill them.
And Neil really – and I got to tell you, I’m going to gush a little bit, I – because I watched the episode twice now. Neil hits it out of the park. I’m so glad that he’s so featured in this episode because he’s really fantastic in it. And I predict that this episode is going to be a fan favorite.
Neil Grayston: Aw.
Allison Scagliotti: And it’s true.
Neil Grayston: Well, thank you.
Allison Scagliotti: You’re my favorite.
Neil Grayston: I’m all scratching my elbow over here. Yes. The Eureka one is basically I guess, you know, Fargo obviously has a little bit of a crush on Claudia and starts – I guess he starts making the purple goo that the Warehouse uses for the artifacts and sort of synthesizes it. Because the Warehouse already has a purple goo making machine, right?
Allison Scagliotti: Yes. There is a [system] that pumps the goo throughout the Warehouse, but it has to be manufactured somewhere.
Neil Grayston: Okay, yes. So Fargo decides to start making a version of that in Eureka and invites Claudia over to come pick up a batch and then science happens and mystery happens and Claudia helps save the day and solves some puzzles that are happening and explosions happen and sparks and stuff and it’s a really fun episode.
Allison Scagliotti: Sparks and explosions and more kissing, I might add.
Neil Grayston: Yes, yes, a lot more, ha ha.
Q courtesy of Kenn Gold with MediaBlvd: So I guess Nolan Gerard Funk should be looking for a new job, is that what we’re saying here?
Allison Scagliotti: No, Nolan continues his (arc) on the show, but he’s got some competition…
[More after the jump]
Teaser for the second half of the Warehouse 13 / Eureka crossover event
ON LEGENDARY SCI-FI GUEST STARS: LINDSAY WAGNER, WIL WHEATON, FIREFLY CREW
Q courtesy of Troy Rogers with thedeadbolt.com: Allison, I wanted to know what was it like working with Lindsay Wagner.
Allison Scagliotti: Ooh, oh my God. Working with Lindsay was a dream not only because she’s a sci-fi legend but because she’s really a fantastic actress. I felt really lucky. I didn’t have a lot to do with her in her first appearance, but she comes back for the second episode of the show later in the season and what we have together is so meaty. It was kind of an actress’s dream to work with a veteran of the industry, not just a veteran of the genre. She’s a wonderful person and a really incredible actress and I had a lot of fun with her.
[Author’s Note: I had to keep this intro in and I’d like to formally invite Allison Scagliotti and Neil Grayston to join our SciFi Mafia!]
SciFi Mafia: Hey, Neil. Hey, Allison. How are y’all doing?
Neil Grayston: Great, how you doing?
Allison Scagliotti: Good, I didn’t know sci-fi’s had mafias.
SFM: Yes, we do. And we’re pretty darn strong.
Allison Scagliotti: As a Scagliotti this is good to know.
SciFi Mafia: Well, my question is directed towards both of you regarding guest stars on both of your shows. Allison, are you a big Firefly fan? And, Neil, what was it like to work with Wil Wheaton? Did you both kind of like geek out at some point?
Neil Grayston: Yes, do you want to go first, Scags?
Allison Scagliotti: I – sure. You know what, I – (if I do) mention that since I’m more of Artie’s counterpart and that guest stars occur much more with the Pete and Myka characters, I don’t usually get to spend a lot of time with them, so…
SciFi Mafia: Oh, sadness!
Allison Scagliotti: …Sean and Jewel from Firefly were great. I’ve never actually seen Firefly, guilty confession, but I did get to geek out over…
Neil Grayston: Ooh.
Allison Scagliotti: I know. I’m sorry. But I did geek out over Renee Auberjonois in 13.1 and I geeked out over Lindsay, working with Lindsay Wagner in episode eleven, which will air in September.
SciFi Mafia: Ah, gotcha. And, Neil, how about you?
Neil Grayston: Yes, well, the thing about Wil is he was like my favorite character in Star Trek The Next Generation, which I used to watch all of the time as a kid because it was just, you know, you identify with him. I was a little boy and he was a young man so he was closest in age to me and I just always thought that (it wasn’t a crush) or was it just rad.
And then meeting Wil, he’s such a nice guy. He’s super down to earth and he’s just really cool, so it was kind of like all right, I really, really enjoy you. And then to know that he’s going to be doing a multi-episodic arc is just fantastic because he’s just a really nice guy. I consider him quite a good friend, so now I’m just going to get to work and hang out with him some more. It’s really fantastic.
SciFi Mafia: What an awesome opportunity you guys have. I totally envy you all.
Neil Grayston: Yeah, It is a really good job.
Allison Scagliotti: I do have a (nerds dream) job. Which is convenient because we’re both nerds.
Neil Grayston: Yes.
[More after the jump]
Sneak Peek at “Crossing Over” Eureka Clip
BEING THE NEW YOUNG FACE OF GEEK
SciFi Mafia: Well, my follow-up question is kind of along the real life geeky kind of arena. How geeky are you guys in real life? There’s been some media attention lately about how young people are becoming disinterested in math and science. It sounds like we might be coming up on a shortage of engineers and also women in the field of science.
How can being the new young face of geek help young people’s interest in math and science? With y’all’s position as actors in these awesome shows, how do you think you can stir up the spark of interest in young people?
Neil Grayston: Oh, I for one wish I was as good at math and science as my character is because I’m pretty horrible at it, but I had no idea that people were getting disinterested in it. Because I know so many engineers and, you know, I’m just going to say scientists but that might just be the people that I know or something. But, yes, wow, that’s kind of a drag.
Allison Scagliotti: It is, yes. For me, I’m not at all inclined towards the mathematics or the sciences. I’ve always been an artsy girl. But for me it’s really, really a joy to play a smart female character. Because I’m sure you’re no stranger to the talk that there’s kind of a surplus of your standard giggling wide-eyed girl who flips her blonde hair behind her shoulder and pouts her lips and anyone can kind of do that, but I don’t think there’s anything inspiring about a character like that. It’s not rewarding to play her, and it’s not rewarding to see that sort of exalted on screen.
So getting to play a girl with a specific skill set like Claudia, the payoff – the ultimate payoff for me is when moms reach out to me on Twitter and say that their young daughters are obsessed with Claudia and want to dress up like her for Halloween and, you know, are aspiring to be geeks and have, you know, have special – have these interests that aren’t dictated by what other people at school are telling them is cool.
Or, you know, that they’re not reading magazines that come from a real place, that come from listening to themselves and listening to what they like. So for me it’s very rewarding to play a role model actually.
SFM: And we thank you for it very much, Allison.
Allison Scagliotti: Oh it’s my pleasure, I assure you.
SFM: Well, you guys keep your geek on. Thank you!
Allison Scagliotti: I like that. Keep your geek on.
Neil Grayston: Hey, keep your geek on. I’d kind of love that on a (shirt).
Allison Scagliotti: That’s cute.
[Author’s Note: Neil, we’re working on making that happen. Keep watch on the SciFiMafia store for that!]
Stay tuned for Part II of excerpts from this interview with Allison Scagliotti and Neil Grayston!
Watch the second half of the Warehouse 13 / Eureka Crossover event tonight, Friday 9/8C on SyFy.
