Interviews

Lost Girl stars discuss their hit show

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I got to do a little fangirling Wednesday, March 14th, when I sat in on a conference call with the stars of Lost Girl. Anna Silk, Ksenia Solo and Kris Holden-Ried. They chatted with us about the hit series and the episode entitled “The Morning After”.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview.

Question: Okay, so this question I got is from Rick Halland who he wants to know since you love acting with him what’s your favorite moment working with Trick?

(laughter)

Anna Silk: Yeah, sure, yeah, I mean working with Rick who plays Trick is, he’s such a great actor and he’s such a calming presence on set. And he’s – when I do scenes with him as Bo, Bo and Trick have such a unique bond and there’s this trust that she has in him, so – and Rick, he embodied all of that. He’s got so much presence and I can’t really think of one specific moment but he’s just a really – he’s just a great guy to work with.

Ksenia Solo: Yeah and he’s an incredibly gifted actor, every time I do a scene with him I always have to stop and be like seriously, like you’re amazing, like how are you doing this? You’re just amazing. And he’s a wonderful man and a wonderful friend and we really are so lucky to have him and his sense of humor is out of this world. So we all enjoy him very much and he’s a very, very special person, I love him very much.

Question: How do you think the show has changed since it started and why do you think it’s been so successful?

Ksenia Solo: Well I think that Season One we were really finding our footing, we were discovering who we are as our characters. We were really discovering who we are as a show, what our voice really is and I think we all knew that we got involved with something very unique and of course we didn’t know what the fans’ response was going to be.

And the fact that it’s been what it is has been incredibly humbling and incredibly exciting for us all at the same time. And I think Season Two we really came back with more oomph if I can say it that way. We really had time to explore in Season One and Season Two we came back ready to kick ass and getting a chance to meet our fans at (Comegon) and Fan Expo and all these different events.

It’s been really amazing and what I thought was the most kind of exciting was when I saw other girls dressed up as Kenzi  for me that was like a sign of like wow, people really enjoy these characters and they really love the show. And just we couldn’t be happier.

Anna Silk: Yeah, and I think the show, I mean it’s from the first episode there was so much room for growth and the show could only sort of grow and develop from there,  playing Bo this whole world was brand new to her. And so it was brand new to the audience as well so we had so many places to go and so much to explore and that’s what we’ve done.  I know that first season is still airing here in the US.

And it’s gotten a great response and the show continues to grow like Ksenia said, first season really laid a good foundation for the second season. And we really sort of took off from there and took it in new directions which I can’t wait for everyone to see. And the fan response has been incredible.

It’s – people have – I know I said this before but people have really taken ownership of the show and really invest in the lives of these characters. And in our lives as a result so it’s really cool.

Question: The dynamic between the cast, has that changed at all as the first season went on and you’re heading into the second – well I guess you’re in the second season now.

Anna Silk: We did, yeah. Like I can remember that first few episodes back we all – the whole cast was in a scene together and everything just felt like a family, like everyone sort of naturally knew when to come in and obviously it’s written out on a piece of paper for us as well.

But we naturally sort of have each other’s rhythm and energy as actors but also as these characters. So I mean again because the show starts with everyone meeting for the first time the relationships have naturally evolved. And changed and as actors on set we’ve just sort of bonded as the episodes went on, so it’s been really great.

Ksenia Solo: I mean personally I hated everybody but…

Anna Silk: Yeah, Ksenia hates everyone.

Question: The show changes a lot over what I’ve seen so far. Have you guys had much input into what actually has happened with your characters?

Kris Holden-Ried: I was just going to say we kind of have as much input as we want. There’s a chain of sort of command that also has sort of decision, decision powers or vetoes.

But I think we’re very fortunate, we work on a – it’s not a huge sort of network show so it’s still an independent production where we actually can converse with the writers and executive producers one on one when we need to. And they’re always open to our story ideas. So we’re very fortunate to be able to have input, however much we take it is up to us I guess.

Anna Silk: Yeah, and I also think that I mean I know that I’ve felt this way but over the course of the two seasons that we’ve done, the writers that have gotten to know us tend to write more to our strengths. And it’s when that sort of changes that I might speak up about something and it’s generally been welcomed input. So it does feel very collaborative.

Question: Okay, I’ve got some question Kris for in maybe I’ll rephrase it so you can all give an answer. But I noticed that Kris you actually were on the Canadian Pentathlon team before you became an actor.

And I should imagine the physical challenges of that would have helped you with a lot of the physical demands on you as an actor in this series and a lot of things you’ve done.

So is there anything  that you’ve done that you think has maybe helped you in this area that [has] been  important to your characters.

Kris Holden-Ried: All right, well I mean yeah, absolutely. The sports has been a huge help for me, it’s how I got into acting. And especially with Dyson being such a physical character that was one of the things that I liked about it so much is that it was going to – it was an inspiration for me to get back in shape and like be stronger again.

And it was fantastic up until I injured myself in the middle of second season, but I’ve bounced back from that. And the thing is you have to be careful always doing stunts. It’s like I’ve been in the OR, accidents happen and you just have to be careful, but it’s great to be able to bring a physicality.

With Dyson it has a lot to do with energy work as well because playing a super hero you need to have these super sort of charged energy. So different sort of tricks that I’ve learned along the way to get my energy up.

Anna Silk: And  for Bo I definitely try to stay fit and  I don’t have the same kind of sports background that Kris has but I try to  learn little skills along the way and work with different trainers and my stunt double and that kind of thing. And then in terms of other life things that have helped me prepare, I mean just every little thing in my life really, helps you prepare to play any character.

I mean for Bo, I mean being vulnerable and afraid most of the time, I’ve got that down pat. So that really helps a lot to play this character. But yeah, I guess every little aspect of your life kind of prepares you.

Ksenia Solo: And for myself I really take inspiration from great actors that I admire from movies, from people I know and Kenzi, she’s really so full of life and she has so much energy that that’s one thing that was very new for me, playing a character that was A, the comedic relief, B, somebody who’s just seems like she has a rocket on her somewhere, because she’s constantly go, go, go, go, go.

So that’s something that I’ve always kind of have to work on, remember, make sure that I eat properly, make sure that I physically have enough energy to  make it through the long days and keep that energy up and keep Kenzi as colorful and bright as she is.

(My Question)

KarenL: We know Kris has an athletic background, what do you guys, the two girls, what do you guys do to prepare for your more active scenes on the show?

Anna Silk: Well I try to just stay really strong and fit because that’s really what you kind of need to be able to kind of have the stamina to do the season but then between first and second season I worked with a martial arts trainer who does specifically fight training for movies and TV.

So just trying to learn to be a little bit more grounded because I don’t have a marital arts background. And in the first season my stunt double, her favorite thing to say was stop bouncing, because I was a little bit too bouncy for what I needed to be doing. So I learned how to stop bouncing and learned to be a little bit just more grounded and a little bit more fluid.

KarenL: So maybe more ‘ninja’?

Anna Silk: Maybe a little more ninja and I certainly learned some sword skills as the series progresses as well so that’s something that I’ve had a lot of fun doing as well.

Ksenia Solo: And I come from a dance background which has always helped me in any stunt work that I’ve had to do. Yeah.

Question: Is there something still that you guys would like to know about your character’s back story that they haven’t at all yet talked about?

Anna Silk: I mean I think that for Bo I mean we sort of – I had a pretty clear understanding of what her back story was before we ever started Season One and  I’ve gotten to know more as the series has progressed through writers and through my own imagination.

But not as much as been shown to the audience yet so that’s something that will be shown in Season Two and certainly in Season Three and I just think it would be good for people to see a little bit more about where Bo came from. And why she was the way she was at the beginning of the series, pretty new to everything really. A real fish out of water I guess, but I don’t know what else I’d like to – I think that revealing things a little bit at at time is kind of the way to do it.

I think that’s all Bo can handle and I think it’s better for the audience that way as well.

Kris Holden-Ried: With Dyson in Season Two we get to explore a little bit of his past, there’s some flashbacks in an episode. I’d love to see a little bit more of that, I love showing the different sort of age of that, our characters have lived throughout. And I think that brings a nice depth and breadth to the show. But I’m looking forward to hopefully some more back-story exposed and maybe some flashbacks.

Anna Silk: and you’ll get to see Kris in sexy long hair in that flashback.

Ksenia Solo: I would love to also explore even Kenzi’s childhood and her family and her family’s ties to the Russian mafia and why she ended up living alone on the streets and where she gets her kleptomaniac tendencies from and all these kind of cool things that I think we can really delve much deeper into. I would love to explore it more.

Question: Okay great, and can you each kind of describe your character in just three words?

Anna Silk: She’s strong, she’s loyal, and she’s vulnerable.

Ksenia Solo: Kenzi is a fashionista, a thief and a very loyal friend.

Kris Holden-Ried: I think Dyson has got a caked in, another loyalty; he’s got loyalty going on. He’s I’m just going to throw in the generic old and I don’t know, damaged or just wise. No he’s not particularly wise actually.

No, I’m mixing up Season Two and Season One two, I’m like in Season One, he’s – so yeah, loyal, ancient and I don’t know guys, what’s the third one for Dyson?

Anna Silk: Oh gosh, he’s kind of brooding, he’s – it’s always like he knows more than he ever says. He always knows more than he says. I know that’s not one word.

Ksenia Solo: He says everything with his eyes, not through words.

Anna Silk: Exactly, it drives Bo crazy.

Kris Holden-Ried: Mute with chatty eyes.

Question: I suppose you can’t tell us how old he is though because now you made me wonder.

Kris Holden-Ried: Oh I think he’s over 1000, he’s about 1000 years old.

Question: Yes, I wanted to ask you now with the show on SyFy, what impact has the new audience on all of you, the new American audience?

Ksenia Solo: It’s cool because Lost Girl is shown all over the world, and it was showing in Australia and England before it ever aired in the states. So I think it’s just a really great addition to our audience and we’ve wanted to  air in the states for a long time. So it’s been really exciting for us.

Anna Silk: Yeah and there’s such an online community sort of globally so it was interesting to see that people from Australia and the UK and from Canada are sort of already in touch with the new fan base in the US. So I’ve definitely because I’m in the US right now, I definitely feel an impact on the show. Just more people being vocal about it, people sharing online what they like about it and it’s been really pretty great.

Kris Holden-Ried: Yeah, absolutely.  It’s such a huge audience and they love, they tend to love this genre, Americans and there’s been so many other successful shows down there in the sci fi genre. And we’re so glad that we’re part of the party.

Speaking for myself at least – I’m glad they are too.

Karen Lindsay, often teased as being "obscurely famous," talks a lot. (i.e. she podcasts). Her current and past projects involve television shows like "Chuck", "Castle", "Orphan Black", "Farscape", "Supergirl", "Lucifer" and many others. She's an avid gamer, reader, & collector of all things shiny - and while you may not think those things go hand-in-hand, they sometimes do. So don't ask her about how many pets she has in Warcraft. (or how shiny they are).