WAREHOUSE 13: Eddie McClintock Can’t Talk Finale Spoilers; How About House Renovations

By Liz | October 3, 2011

You never know how the conversation is going to go when you get on a conference call with Warehouse 13’s Eddie McClintock.  Tonight is the season finale, “Emily Lake”, and it will be a 2-hour special beginning at 9/8 c on Syfy. Eddie wouldn’t give away any spoilers, but if you’re looking for how the renovations are going on his house, he has no problem spilling the deets. When that didn’t go over too well, he settled down and gave us some morsels.

Question: So can you talk some about the season finale, kind of what’s going to happen and everything?

 

Eddie McClintock:     I can’t, but I can you tell some renos I’ve done on my house recently.  No, of course, of course we can talk about the – that’s why I’m here. What would you like to talk about?

Question: Well it says according to the press release that obviously Anthony Michael Hall is back again, but also that Jaime Murray is going to be in it. So could you just kind of talk about, you know, working with her again and everything and working with him?

 

Eddie McClintock:     Well, I love Jaime and she is fantastic. And, I know that there’s been talk about spinning her off and doing her own series, but whatever the end result of that may be, I sure hope we can continue to work together.

She and I did some stuff last year when we were on hiatus and we really got to know each other well. So she’s a great actress and whatever she ends up doing I wish her well.

What’s great is the fact that – the way she comes back this year here in the finale – the two episodes here at the end of this season, you know, she kind of – I think I’m allowed to – well gosh I’m not sure exactly what I’m allowed to say about it.

In regards to Anthony Michael Hall, I mean I grew up with all of those great movies that he did when he was younger. And he really kind of grew into himself, because he’s like 6′ 2″ now and probably weighs about 200 pounds and none of it’s fat, he’s just a big dude. He looks – actually he looks like Steve McQueen I think.

But he’s amazing, he’s great fun to work with and just for me it’s like getting to meet some of your childhood heroes and the people that you admired and the people whose work you admired. And to have him come on the show and be such a strong – play such a strong character is pretty thrilling for me.

Question:  How is it working with Kate Mulgrew, especially because she’s playing your mother? What’s that been like?

Eddie McClintock:     If you went to Dragon*Con or if you ended up at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention you would see that Kate and I get along better than I could have ever even dreamed of. She’s the kind of person that after I had known her for five minutes I had basically told her my life story. And it’s not a long story but she stood there and listened to everything I had to say. I was kind of going through some stuff and some family stuff and I was just like, “Hi I’m Eddie, and oh and by the way this is my life,” and she told me some stuff about herself to let me know that she was in the conversation and was willing to listen. And we just have struck up a great friendship. So to have her play my mom seems completely natural. Although she’d of had to been like four when she had me, which you know, we’re going to have to overlook.

Question: Do you know if you’re coming back for next season or do you not know what’s going on yet?

Eddie McClintock:     It has been officially announced, yes.

Question:  Have you started plots about that yet? Do you have any idea what’s going to happen?

Eddie McClintock:     I hope so because I just bought a helicopter and a Lamborghini. That’s another one of the things, as much of a surprise as it is for the fans it is for me as well. I mean I try not to know too much about it because I love being able to show up and read the first script and just go, “You guys are insane,” and just like go. So I’m kind of along for the ride as well as the fans, so it’s cool.

Question:  Now that you’ve had three season how are you feeling about sci-fi in general, do you like working in it as a genre?

Eddie McClintock:     Well I’m going down to Florida next week and I’m going to see Gary Morganstein who’s our Syfy rep here on the conference call today. And I’m flying down there with my family and we’re all going to go to Harry Potter World and ride on the rides after the park is closed down. And they’re putting me up and paying for me. And so it’s that kind of treatment from the network in a financial time – the economy is bad, but they still find it in their budget to treat to their employees well. And that’s my impression. I mean I know all the top execs at the network and they’re all really great people. And so I couldn’t be happier. I mean, the fact that they’ve renewed the show for a fourth year and have given me an opportunity to send my kid to a private school here in LA has been a blessing, because if I sent him to public school he would come home with a teardrop tattoo and so, not looking to forward to that. So it’s been amazing, yes.

 

Question:  Do you have plans to do any other work with Syfy, like any you know, original movies or anything like that?

Eddie McClintock:     Well strange that you would ask, but yes. I actually flew to Bulgaria last year during the dead of winter. And I mean, Bulgaria is – lovely people there, but I mean literally when, when the Soviet Union broke down and Communism kind of fell, there was a mad dash for all the resources and the organized, the people that were the most well organized and that being the criminal element, they goggled up all the resources and all the wealth in Bulgaria.        And so literally, the place is – if you pull the thread the whole place is going to fall. It’s really a depressed place. But – excuse me, I went there and shot a Syfy feature that should be coming out anytime. I mean this was about a year ago, so. It’ll be coming out next year. It’s called “The Boogey Man”, and it’s fun. You know, Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi did these movies, the “Evil Dead” movies, they were favorites growing up and still are. This was my opportunity to kind of – to have fun, do a scary horror movie and not take myself too serious in the process, which I know you’ll find hard to believe that I didn’t take myself too seriously so.

I also just finished a movie up in Canada. I was back up in Canada just above Montreal, a place called Loch Sainte-Marie which is beautiful, but there’s just absolutely nothing out there. And this movie it’s called “A Fish Story”, and it is a straight up drama. I mean there are nice family moments, but there aren’t many if any comedic moments. It’s just not that type of a movie. Again, I didn’t want to just have the movie be a downer, so there are parts that I tried to keep light. But, if anyone in the States gets to see this movie I think they’ll see a completely different side of my acting strategy.   And it was great, great fun and I met a lot of great people. And I think it’s going to be a pretty good movie. It certainly has a lot of heart. So hopefully you’ll be able to check it out.

Question: This season you’ve had – I mean you’ve had Kate there, you also had Jeri Ryan playing your ex-wife. What was your reaction when you found out who Pete’s family was going to be in terms of the casting? Were you surprised or?

Eddie McClintock:     Well wait till next year when we find out that Carrot Top is my brother. I never watched “Voyager” and I just never did. I wasn’t – but I knew of Kate Mulgrew. And I definitely knew of Jeri Ryan. I mean she was – you don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to know who Jeri Ryan was. Plus I actually did a show called, “Shark”, last – well a couple of years ago. It was James Woods. It was James Woods and she played an attorney on that show. So although we didn’t work together at that time, we were in the same room together. So I had that going for me. And then I mean, when I found out that a sci-fi icon was going to be my wife, my ex-wife, I told her when I saw her for the first time I just said, “Do you realize that my stud cred has just increased like 10-fold?”

And then when I found out that a Star Fleet Captain was my mom I just thought that that was so awesome. And it just turned out that both ladies were really cool and good to have around. So yes, I feel like I’m in pretty good company in that regard.

Question:  The other thing I was going to ask you, in an interview just before this series began, Allison mentioned she’d quite like to see her character go dark for a time, not permanently, but for a time. What sort of changes would like to happen to Pete? Not necessarily for just one episode or for a whole season, but you know, for an arc of, you know, three or four?

Eddie McClintock:     I want Pete to change just as we humans just in real life as we change, we grow, but any drastic changes, I love what they’ve done with the character. I love the fact that Pete can be insanely childish and silly sometimes. And he loves that about himself. And then he also is incredibly brave and strong and loyal and loving. He gets to – for me I get to play all of things. I get to play comedy, I get to play drama, I get to play action, I get to play romance. And to me that’s the perfect combination. I know some fans, I’ve read that some fans think Pete is stupid and – or a goof and that always kind of has hit me the wrong way, because I just think Pete is putting on. He’s just having fun. He likes to pull Myka’s strings. He likes to pull Artie’s strings. He likes to get everybody going and everybody kind of riled up. And apparently it’s worked with the fans too. I mean I think people love Pete or hate Pete because people who want to see, “Hey he’s supposed to be a Secret Service Agent so he should be more serious.” And that will never be my character — I hope. But I would never go to the writers and ask them to do anything differently in regards to the character. I would just say, “Please continue to make me all the things that you’ve made him so far.”

Question:    It seems it may just be that I’ve missed the references, but it seems like Pete’s sixth sense for danger hasn’t been as noticeable this year as it has in the past. Is that because Myka’s picking up on it as well or?

Eddie McClintock:     I don’t know, we just talked about his – because we just found out that his mother also has vibes. So, there’s some deeper meaning to – like Pete just didn’t end up as a Warehouse agent. It’s been in the plans from when he was very young, you know, his mother was a Warehouse agent. She has vibes. I don’t know, I mean it’s not heavily written into the script. The vibe thing for Pete, which again I think, I like that — that it comes and goes — because otherwise it just gets stale. Kind of like Jinks, with his, “You’re lying,” thing. If you hit it too many times it just gets old and stale. And again, I think it’s a credit to Jack Kenny and his ability to write a well-balanced show. And that’s in respect to drama and action and romance and comedy, so.

Question:   You guys seem to have a lot of fun on that set. And they’re – every guest star for the show that I’ve talked to has talked about what a great set it is and how fun every – you guys all are and how much you make them feel welcome. That’s not a question.

Eddie McClintock:     Well it’s kind of from the top down. I mean Jack Kenny is one of the funniest, brightest guys I’ve ever met in my life. He also happens to be one of my good, good friends. And that’s the kind of set he wants. And there’s a responsibility there for me as the “Star of the show” to – that’s just the kind of – like when I show up on someone else’s set, because I used to do guest star after guest star after guest star after guest star. And it’s basically you’re walking into somebody’s house with your sleeping bag and you’re going, “Hey I’m going to sleep right here on your floor. So I’ll be here and you’ve never met me, but I’m welcoming myself to your home for the next two weeks.” And it can be weird if you don’t know the dynamic of the cast, if there’s problems, if there’s problems with the writers and the cast — you don’t know what’s going on. And so when the cast is welcoming, it’s a huge relief.

I remember when I did two episodes of Friends, and it was right after they had signed their $1 million an episode deal. And I was making like $4250 for the week. I was making almost $50 or something, and these people are making $1 million. This is the Number 1 show at the time, and it can be really intimidating. So I just know from experience. And I just happen to be that kind of person. It’s like I generally like to meet new people and so – especially when they have a common interest like acting and sci-fi and I love having new people around.

So again, it’s just from the top down and I hope as long as our reputation of being a good set and a fun set, I hope we can continue to get the great talent that we’ve had on the show for guest stars.

Question:  You mentioned Jinks, will he – will we be seeing him in the finale?

Eddie McClintock:     Yes, yes. He’s not gone. As it stands right now it looks as though the Warehouse people have shut down all his credit cards and everything, they basically are trying to erase him. And so it looks as though he may be joining Walter Sykes and the gang.

Eddie McClintock:     Nice, well you know I can say, “However it plays out, I mean I just was doing an ADR session yesterday and I was talking to the guy – the mixers and I was like, “So how were the last two episodes,” and they were just like, “They’re the best episodes of the series.” They’ve really raised the stakes this year here for the last two episodes. And so I’m looking forward to – I haven’t seen any of it so I can’t wait to see it.

Question:   And you think it – will it be a great cliffhanger?

Eddie McClintock:     I hope so. Like last year’s cliffhanger to me wasn’t really necessarily a cliffhanger. To me a cliffhanger is like the fair – the damsel is tied to the railroad tracks, the train’s coming, the guy’s racing to get there, “What’s going to happen next,” not, “Oh no, one of the characters left.” And I kind of thought it kind of ticked a lot of people off. I remember like getting a lot of twitters about, ” I’m not going to watch the show if Myka’s not going to be on there. No way, that’s uncool. You guys are,” (ma ma ma) and so…And I get it. It’s like, “What? That’s the cliffhanger? One of the most loved characters is just walking away?” So I would say that this year they definitely have again, upped the stakes in that regard. And I think people may be shedding a few tears on this one.

Question: How much of the relationship with his (Pete’s) mother will come into play in the future? Do you know? I mean like will we continue to see her every so often or?

Eddie McClintock:     I sure hope so. I mean again, as I said earlier, I really don’t know what’s going to happen next. And that’s in life and in – even when I’m at work, they come to my trailer and I’m like, “Oh, my – do I say things in this scene?”

And Joanne always wants to beat me. But I don’t know that I’ve talked to Kate about coming back. And I don’t think that they would have approached someone like Kate Mulgrew to have her be on the show if they didn’t plan on keeping her around a while. So I think that definitely we’re going to see more of Kate, yes. Right now she’s got the (Calati) bracelet on so she is in charge. Everything rests on her at this time, so she’s been very active in the finale. And yes, Kate and I have so much fun together. It really is effortless to work with her. So I look forward to the time that I get to do that.

Question: Are you guys are doing a Christmas episode again this year?

Eddie McClintock:     Oh yes. I can tell you that where last year’s Christmas episode was pretty fluffy, I thought, this Christmas episode is to me, more of a Warehouse 13 episode. It’s edgier than last year’s. It’s not a Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s an actual Warehouse 13 episode. And even though it’s still like a standalone episode, it doesn’t – it’s not impacted by previous episodes. It’s very much, there’s a lot of drama and there’s a lot of heart and there’s a lot of action — just like every good Warehouse 13 episode.

Question:  How is the finale going to shock us because seasons past, there have been some pretty shocking things that have happened that have upset some fans — as you said earlier.

Eddie McClintock:     Well as I said, because I love the writers but I just like, I didn’t get the whole, Myka leaving thing in regards to using it as a cliffhanger. I understand it as a plot, as a storyline for the plot, sure. But to leave that as like the cliffhanger, especially when the fans have to wait a year to see what happened, it’s just rough man. It is Hollywood so people were like, “Maybe she didn’t renew her contract or whatever,” it’s just like people won’t be wondering that in regards to this ending this year, it’s a straight up dramatic cliffhanger. And it definitely will – I don’t think it’ll leave people going, “Hey, I’m not going to watch anymore,” it’s going to make people go, “I can’t wait to – I can’t wait till next year to see the show.”

Question:  Is there anything special you’d like to see happen next season — whether it be guest stars or an event?

Eddie McClintock:     Well I’d like to see the Warehouse crew have to travel to Hawaii to do a 2-hour episode where while Pete is surfing he gets hit by the surfboard in the head, and then a spider almost – a tarantula almost bites him, and then they find a Tiki in the sand, and then meet Vincent Price in a cave. Actually a Warehouse – oh my God, Brady Bunch, Warehouse Brady Bunch. Remember? Do you remember that one man, when they went to Hawaii? It was like, what’s her name, Cindy was like 15 and they still had her in pigtails and it was kind of – the show was jumping the shark a little bit.

Question: Branching out from Warehouse 13 with Lindsay Wagner doing Alphas and Claudia going to Eureka, it’s clear that those shows now share a universe, a shared universe. Which of those you would like to visit and perhaps to have a mini-arc or guest star on, or have somebody from one of those shows come to Warehouse 13, if there’s any crossovers that interest you?

Eddie McClintock:     I mean I would like to go do any of those shows just because I think they’re all so much fun. I would like to go do Sanctuary because I’ve gotten to know Robin Dunne pretty well. And I think the way they shoot their show, I guess it’s a lot of green screen stuff so it must be pretty challenging. I know when we do a lot of green screen it’s hard because not only do you have to act, but you have to imagine your surroundings as well. So that would be cool. And I guess I’d like to do an episode of the WWE. You know, I’d put on some tights and a cod piece and put some clothespins on my nipples and a latex mask.

Question: Would you want to go to Tough Enough or to ever appear at WrestleMania or anything because of your wrestling background.

Eddie McClintock:     Yes, you know, Cody – the guy who came on and played Myka’s – I can’t think of his name right now, I feel like…He’s you know the – what the hell’s his name? I can’t think of his name. Anyway, yes I’d love to do it. I saw the guy I’m talking about — I can’t remember his name — but he’s a great young kid and a good guy. And he played Myka’s love interest last year. And if anybody out there is listening, when you come on if you remember his name would you please tell me? Because I’m just so embarrassed that I can’t remember it. But yes, it would be fun. To me there’s not a whole lot of wrestling in what they do, other than they’re just great athletes, you know?

But as far as when I wrestled – I wrestled in grade school and then in high school and in college, so it was collegiate wrestling, not WWE style. But still, to get in there, and scream and have people throw stuff at you is always fun, because that’s what happens here a lot with my wife, she screams and throws stuff at me.

(Note: the wrestler Eddie was referring to was Cody Rhodes.)

Question: Jack Kenny mentioned the Christmas episode is going to be Pete-centric and it’s been tied to a beloved classic movie.

Eddie McClintock:     Yes. Jack directed that episode. And he came to me the week before and just said, “Hey man, this” – I don’t know if he wrote that episode too. But he’s like, “Look, I’m directing. I need you to bring it. Because there’s a lot of stuff in it for you and there’s a lot of dramatic stuff in it for you and I want it to be great.” And so I don’t think I disappointed him. I mean I worked really hard and I think that, as I said earlier, “It’s not a fluff piece”. It’s not a fluffy Christmas story. I mean there’s still some Warehouse 13 fluff don’t get me wrong. But it’s a little more dramatic this year; it’s kind of Warehouse 13’s version of It’s a Wonderful Life.

Question: It seems like some of those lines that are true, you know, Pete lines, are any of those ad-libs? I mean do the writers come to you for topics or pop culture things that you’re into, because they just seem so natural.

Eddie McClintock:     Well yes I guess I do throw stuff in there. For instance, in Season 1 during the episode Duped, I was walking down the hall talking on the Farnsworth, and when I got to the end of the hallway I said, “Kirk out,” and then closed the Farnsworth. And Ben and Deric, the writers are kind of looking at each other like, “Hey I don’t know, can we – are we allowed to say that? Get on the phone; can we say that? Can we say, Kirk out? Are we allowed to say Kirk out?”

And so I mean I like to do stuff like that. I mean I just saw a thing on there today when this episode that’s coming up, and I’m the guy – I’m getting beat on and I was like, “Hey you, that’s my tennis elbow,” because he’s like hitting me right in the elbow. And I’m like, “Hey that’s my tennis elbow,” and then I was like, “I remember I kind of threw that in there and they kept it.”

So sometimes, but I’d say the most improvisational stuff that ends up staying is if I have an idea I’ll go to Jack and say, “What do you think about this there? Can I button this scene with this line or can I finesse it with this or that,” and it’s very collaborative. He tends to beat my idea, which means he’ll take something that I have that is moderately funny and then he’ll go, “What about this,” and I’m like, “Oh now that’s really funny.” And so usually he’ll take my kernel, my seed of funny and turn it into a giant oak of hilarity.

Question:  Have there been any props or artifacts that have been, shall we say, “A little more difficult to work with,” either physicality-wise or just story-wise that were a little more of a challenge when it comes to the artifacts?

Eddie McClintock:     You know I can – I remember the ferret because it was taking little bites out of me and stuff like that. And like trying to go up my shirt and – which normally I’m okay with, but it was in front of a mixed crowd there.       When we were doing the H.G. Wells time machine even though I was kind of laying there with this helmet thing on it was a little uncomfortable but, I mean come on man, I’m making a TV show that has my name in it and so none of it is that difficult. It’s all really fun.

Question: We saw Warehouse 13 get some of the highest ratings ever this season. Do you feel that the bar has been raised? Are there any ways that you feel the show’s continuing to improve with each season?

Eddie McClintock:     I mean I’ve said wholeheartedly that I think this season has been the best season of the series so far. They always say it takes a show a season to find its legs. Like if you go back and you watch an episode – or like the first season of Cheers or the first season of Friends or the first season of Seinfeld, I mean they barely resemble the show that people really know and love and remember. And that’s based on a 22 episode season. And since we really only get 13 episodes per season, really it’s 12 because the Christmas episodes don’t count, we’re really just starting our second season. So I think the show has really found itself. The writers have really kind of zeroed in on what makes the show work. And so yes, I think the show just gets better and better. And I mean I don’t know how they’re going to do it this next – I’m just like, “How can they possibly make the show better this year unless they get like Captain Kirk and Spock in a cat fight, like get them in a couple of latex jumpsuits and have them battle it out.”

Question: What do you feel it is about the show that continues to attract viewers?

Eddie McClintock:     Well you know what my wife likes about the show is that it has a lot of heart, you know? It’s really a family show. And what a great time in our history to have a nice family show. I mean if you look around, name a family show that’s on the air right now, like one that everybody can sit down and watch. I don’t know too many. Matter of fact, I don’t know any except for, you know, maybe Spartacus and – I was kidding. And so the fact that the young guys and gals can sit and watch it, and the parents can watch it, and it doesn’t talk down to the kids, and it’s not too juvenile for the parents.

Although some people think Pete is overly juvenile. But there are people like that in life. And I think Pete is just awesome. I love playing Pete. It’s the funnest thing – he’s the funnest character I’ve ever had the privilege of playing. So I think the reason people stick around is because they can relate to the characters. It’s really, the Warehouse team is a family, they have become a family. And hopefully we can get (Snookie) on there and pump the ratings, and do some fist pumping as well.

Question: Do you have any crazy or fun fan stories, you know, of meeting fans?

Eddie McClintock:     When I was growing up, when I was in high school and even in college, I mean I grew up as a jock. I was a baseball player and a football player and I wrestled, and I wore the letterman jacket around school and I hung out with all the jocks. And I never gave anybody a swirly, but I probably looked like a guy that would give a swirly. So the fact that I kind of – but in my defense, like I was always an artist, like I always considered myself an artist. So it was weird because I looked like one thing, but kind of who I really was was really another.

So now that I’m doing the show, and the fact that I’ve been embraced by these people – this group of people who might otherwise see me as the enemy, just because that’s kind of the way it was back then, I love it. I’ve met scientists; I’ve met literally rocket scientists at these conventions. I’ve met people that work at NASA, that have helped send the Cassini satellite into orbit. And I love that. And the fact that these people, these smart intelligent people come to me and tell me that they admire my work is such a huge complement for me.

Watch the Warehouse 13 2-hour season finale event, tonight at 9/8c, only on Syfy.