BEING HUMAN an Interview with Sam Witwer

You know those people who are so good looking you think if they open their mouth to speak you might become disappointed? Sam Witwer is not that guy. Yes, he is a very pretty face, but after talking to him about the upcoming season of Syfy’s Being Human you realize he can back up the good looks with intelligent conversation and a passion for his craft.

The third season of Being Human begins a year and a half after last season finished. Having ended last season being imprisoned Aidan is not in a good place when they return.
“It’s kinda like that scene in Trainspotting where they lock Ewan McGregor in a room, except over a year and a half. Longest detox ever. So he comes out stripped of – well first – of his will to live and also stripped of any tools he has to deal with what’s happening around him. So we do definitely see a different version of this character.”

The second season was very dark and found the main characters fighting their demons separately. Something Sam assures us will not be the case this season.
“This season is all about them being together the entire time which I very much enjoy. I mean, last season it was interesting, we felt like we had some good things. In fact one of our strongest episodes took place in the last season however I think it got a little too dark and not as balanced with humor. This season the three roommates find themselves in situations where they’re way more interdependent which also makes for more funny situations. So this season – I gotta tell you – this season is the show – I say this with great pride – this is the show that I had hoped our show would become when I read the very first script of Being Human. I’m thrilled with how things have developed because it has an incredible grounded real world vibe.”

The cast and crew have a very open collaborative working relationship which Sam feels adds so much to the show.
“At this point the writers realize they have four actors who have been living with these characters now for several years and we know these characters inside and out. They were amenable to ideas that were thrown out and concerns that we had. I’ll tell you something there were times when I’d say we need a scene where this happens and this happens and then something like this and someone says that and I’d sit there and lamely act it out and then I’d see the next script and instead of maybe just a few lines being changed or you know a few things done to shut me up you read this incredible scene that hit all the points you were talking about. You just go, okay, I might have come up with the idea but I didn’t implement it. I didn’t write a good scene from those ideas, that’s the hard part. The hard part is actually taking those ideas and making something dramatic out of it that works. The writers time and time again really impress me with how they are able to roll with the punches and improve upon what they were doing. Every draft of the script we got was ridiculously better.”

Season three brings in a number of great guest stars and Sam would like to see one more actor on the list.
“Aaron Douglass, I’d like to see him on the show. I have idea of what he could play and we’ll see if I can push that through or not. We do have some excellent guest stars this year; I mean we really did well. We have Xander Berkley, who as you said is delightfully sinister. We have Connor Price who is this really promising young actor and Bobby Campo who really brings a lot, a little bit of a Marty McFly thing. That’s kinda cool. We have Deanna Russo who plays a delightfully charming young lady and then we also have Katherine Isabelle in a different kind of role than you might expect. And we have Amy Aquino who I’m just in love with. Amy is ridiculously awesome, she really is. She’s really incredible.”

Now if that wasn’t enough Sam also does voice work on the animated show Clone Wars.
“I’m a huge Star Wars fan so to be able to contribute to that mythology and not just contribute but also really be taking my directions from George [Lucas]. That’s pretty cool. It’s an element of Star Wars that kids are being introduced to first these days. I’ve met kids who are just huge Star Wars fans who have never seen a Star Wars movie. That’s really fun.”

When he isn’t too busy with Being Human and Clone Wars he also has a band he performs with.
“The Crashtones – I sing, play guitar, you name it.”

Thanks to Syfy and my FedEx delivery guy I have seen the first two episodes of this season of Being Human and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Credit: Drew Struzan

Being Human airs tonight – Monday January 14 – 9/8c on Syfy