HAVEN: Interview with Eric Balfour

Haven is getting ready to air it’s 4th Season this Friday and NiceGirls was lucky enough to get to chat with Eric Balfour who plays Duke.

Change is Good
Eric Balfour: The biggest change is, you know, initially seeing how Lucas Bryant’s character Nathan is going to have to change his role in how we deal with the troubles. And also how my character Duke, is going to have to relate to Nathan, and how he is going to have to help him in a way that he, as we know, has always been reluctant to do.
So especially in the first handful of episodes, things are completely different. And it – I really am excited about it. I really think that the audience is going to love this season because it’s obviously – we try very hard to stay true to what is great about the show, but it’s just always exciting when a show has to reinvent itself to a certain degree.

Guest Stars
Eric Balfour: Absolutely. We have two new characters primarily this season, in Emma Lahana who plays Jennifer, and Chris Camargo who plays my brother Wade. They were both an absolute breath of fresh air. They’re incredible actors.
Personally you know, with Emma’s character, Jennifer, it creates a whole new dynamic for Duke. It’s going to reveal a side of him that we’ve never completely seen. And I loved having her on the set. I love working with her, she is a really playful actress. She brings a lot to the table.
And both of them, I actually have to say, “We were really blessed to have two people that we really enjoy having on set.” You know it’s such an important part of any work environment really. You know, you want to like the people that you’re working with. And they were so much fun, and they were so easy going, and they were so ready to become part of the family. And we just loved having them.
And then obviously this season we have sort of a special, you know, guest star in Colin Ferguson. And Colin’s just an awesome guy. He’s a complete professional, he’s smart and funny, and it was great.
You know obviously there’s a lot of excitement because he’s sort of part of the Syfy family and he’s, you know, been a part of a highly successful Syfy show. And so it’s always fun to cross pollinate the worlds. And we’ve just been having a blast. It’s been the funnest season of new characters. And they really fit in well. And it’s just exciting.

Love Triangle
Eric Balfour: Well the greatest dynamic of this show is this triangle that exists between Duke and Nathan and Audrey is pretty magical. You know, lots of shows try to create love triangles, try to create you know, these things between characters, but ours sort of happened in some ways organically and it was very sincere.
And so at the beginning of this season, you know the question of destiny and true love really become a huge factor in the show. You know, it’s such an interesting thing, because I think in some ways one of the greatest love stories of this show is actually between Nathan and Duke. And although, you know, it’s not a romantic, you know, relationship and not a romantic love, it’s a – it’s almost like a brotherhood and a familial relationship in some ways.
There is this question that I think, you know, we all ask ourselves about Duke is, you know, if he even could have a relationship with Audrey, could he handle it? Would he really want it? Is he meant to be in a relationship?
You know, there are people in this world who, they’re meant to be alone. They’re meant to, you know, to be on their own. But that’s something that I think Duke struggles with.
And so I think there’s an element to it where, you know, as much as he may not want to admit it, Duke truly does care about Nathan and wants him to be okay and to be happy. But that may come at a price.

Duke – Good or Evil?
Eric Balfour: That’s a very difficult question to answer. Duke is in some ways – it’s why I love playing the character, because he is completely human and he is fallible. And in that human quality, it’s very difficult to simply say, “He is good,” or “He is bad,” or “He has, you know, decided to be good.”
He is the most – in some ways, the most honest character on the show. And that’s not to say that he doesn’t, you know, ever lie or isn’t ever deceitful. And he certainly can be. But what I mean by that is he’s the most honest as a being, as a character, because it’s never that simple for him, you know?
And he’s not written to be sort of a caricature of the earnest hero. He’s just more dynamic than that. And so his choices are always veiled with, you know, his own at times selfish desires, with his what I believe is his inherent nature to do the right thing.
So I think in some ways his desire to be more earnest may be there, but because of the challenges that he faces this season, it becomes that much harder.

Thank You to the Fans
Eric Balfour: Thank you guys. You know we are – we’re really grateful to all of you. You know this show does not have the massive marketing machine that other shows do, and our success is based wholly on the fans and the journalists and the people who are excited about it and talk about it and tweet about it. And this season more than any we really need that support from the fans, from the bloggers, from the journalists, because we just don’t have that luxury of the machine in some ways.
You need the help of the fans to get out there and promote the show and talk about the show. And we’re very lucky that our fans and audience have done that.

Haven airs Friday 10/9c on Syfy