Natassia Malthe – Elfin Charm

Natassia Malthe as Perfidia in Knights of Bloodsteel. Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

Like many little girls around the world, Natassia Malthe used to dream of one day becoming a ballerina. The Norwegian-born beauty eventually went on to dance with the Norwegian Opera and the prestigious Norwegian State Ballet College. Then, however, her career plans took a very different course when she joined her friends in auditioning for a musical theater class. Much to her surprise, she was accepted, and two months later Malthe was studying musical theater in London. From there, she took the proverbial bull by the horns.

“I was visiting my mother in Vancouver for Christmas, and not long after I arrived in town I began meeting a lot of actors and was trying to figure out how to break into the business,” recalls the actress. “One night I was at a Christmas party and spent most of my time talking to this woman about the basics, such as putting together a resume and how to go about finding an agent. At the end of the night she told me that she was an agent and she signed me the next day. I then went on my first audition, which was with [director] David Nutter, and he said to me, ‘You’re in the right business. You should stick with it.’ David gave me my first job and that’s how I got started.

Millennium, First Wave and The Dead Zone are among Malthe’s TV guest-star credits. In addition to a number of made-for-TV movies, the actress has also appeared in such feature films as Disturbing Behavior, Lake Placid, BloodRayne II: Deliverance, The Other Side of the Tracks and opposite Jennifer Garner in Elektra. In the latter, she played Typhoid Mary, who could kill with a single touch of her hand or kiss on the lips.

“I loved Typhoid Mary,” enthuses Malthe. “I came up with an entire back story for her and I wish that the character has been further fleshed out [in the film] because there is so much more to her than we get to see onscreen. What struck me the most about Typhoid was her evilness, you know? I really had to focus on her dark side, which I did through music. I listen to certain musical groups in order to get to ‘that place’ with a character, and in this instance I listened to a lot of heavy metal,” she says with a smile.

On this particular sunny day in August (2008), the actress is on-location outside of Vancouver, British Columbia where she is shooting the Sci Fi Channel movie Knights of Bloodsteel. As a warrior elf named Perfidia, she is recruited to help the film’s hero, John Serragoth (David James Elliott), in his fight against Dragon Eye (Mark Gibbon), who is determined to rule the magical world of Mirabilis. Our heroes’ task is not an easy one, and along the way Perfidia must overcome her own personal demons as well.

“I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone, but my character does crash to rock bottom,” notes Malthe. “She goes from being a superhero warrior girl to rock bottom. That was a tough scene to do. Perfidia loses the guy and her powers, but in the process she discovers something else.

“The other big challenge with this character, at least initially, were the [prosthetic] teeth and practicing the dialogue as well as speaking in front of the camera with two big, clunky teeth in my mouth. Hopefully I’m not lisping in any of the scenes we’ve already filmed,” she jokes. “At first the teeth were longer at the back and had greater support, which allowed them to be smaller and more refined. But it was impossible for me to talk while wearing them. So now I have a brand new prosthetic that grasps my own teeth at the front. They’re a bit bigger than the first set, but much easier to work with.”

John Serragoth (David James Elliott) and Perfidia (Malthe) check out what lies ahead. Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

Malthe’s experience as a dancer as well as her prior gymnastics training has been an advantage when it comes to the physicality of this role. “I’m familiar with ‘movie martial arts’ as well, and that along with my dancing background has been a big help, especially with the sword-fighting scenes,” says the actress. “It has a lot to do with coordination and muscle memory, so I don’t find the physical stunts all that difficult because I’m able to memorize the moves. We’re lucky, too, that we have a wonderful crew along with stunt people.

“There was a scene we shot at a waterfall that was extremely slippery and our director, Philip [Spink], was quite concerned about us falling into a big rush of water and being swept into the river. So they put chains, almost like dog leashes, on us to prevent that from happening. There’s also a scene where our characters are standing in mud while having a sword-fight with the bad guys. The mud was like quicksand and when we finished filming, the crew literally had to pull us out of the mud. It was quite funny. And then there was the tall grass. Our feet would constantly get caught up in it, and falling over wasn’t a good thing, especially because of the thorns.”

Despite the weighty nature of our heroes’ mission, there apparently has been time for levity on the Knights of Bloodsteel set. “Sometimes you just get the giggles,” admits Malthe. “The network is probably going to look at the dailies and say, ‘Oh, boy, Perfidia is laughing again.’ There have been moments where I’ve literally had to tell myself, ‘Please, don’t start giggling.’ Oh, my God, my first onscreen kiss with David, every time he leaned over to kiss me I began to giggle. It was very embarrassing, but David forgave me, thank goodness.

“I have the best cast mates,” adds the actress. “Everyone gets along and in-between takes there are so many funny jokes. We’re having an incredible time and our character arcs are developing very nicely. Every one of these characters has impressed and amazed me and I love seeing my fellow actors come up with truly imaginative choices with their performances.”

The ever-vigilant Perfidia (Malthe). Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

As with ballet dancing, there is a tremendous amount of discipline and hard work that goes along with honing your craft as an actor, and Malthe is not afraid of either. “You pay your dues and work really hard, and I think everyone has a chance to succeed in this business if they persevere and just keep going,” she says.

“I had tremendous audition stage-fright when I first started acting, and it took me years to conquer that. Once I’m on-set I’m fine, but I think the toughest nut to crack was the entire audition process and feeling like you’re going to have a heart attack before walking into the audition room. The biggest reward for me was working through that, and now I’m able to relax in the [audition] room and do the work. So there are lots of [acting] obstacles to overcome, but when you do that, you hopefully get more and more work and new opportunities.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos are courtesy of and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!

Christopher Jacot – Doing The Hustle

Christopher Jacot as Adric Thane in Knights of Bloodsteel. Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

The hot sun beats down on the arid pre-Industrial Age mining commune as its scruffy residents go about their daily routine. Suddenly, the general hustle and bustle breaks out into a frenzied scene as men, women and children run for their lives trying to dodge explosions and flying debris. A handsome young man named Adric Thane looks up into the sky as something moves menacingly towards him. Knocked to the ground, he lies motionless as his friends rush to his aid.

“Cut! That was great!” yells Knights of Bloodsteel director Philip Spink. Getting up off the ground, Christopher Jacot, who plays Adric, brushes himself off and walks over to a canopy. Picking up a water bottle and taking a sip, he sits down for a chat. “The scene we just shot is where our four knights arrive at these mines, and it’s the first altercation that they face in our story,” notes the actor. “After each of these life-and-death encounters, they become closer and closer and form more of a dynamic.

“I spent most of this morning running away from explosions along with everyone else, and then in this shot, my character is trying to get away from a flying weapon. It’s missed killing him twice, but he ends up on the ground and covered in debris. The knights rush to see if he’s OK, which is when we first acknowledge our characters being dependent in some way on one another. This lovely girl Bess [Paulette Hinz], who Adric met in the vllage, also comes to his aid. She rubs his head and uses her elfin charm to make him feel better after the evil attack,” he says with a smile.

With his boyish good looks and affable nature, Jacot is the perfect choice to play the roguish confidence trickster Adric in Knights of Bloodsteel. As one of four heroic leads, his character reluctantly agrees to help protect the island continent of Mirabilis from crumbling to the will of a despot known as Dragon Eye (Mark Gibbon). To prevent this, they must first locate the last remaining supply of bloodsteel, a unique ore with magical properties. In his audition,the actor drew inspiration from multiple sources to bring his character to life.

“I threw in a bit of a magician as well as con artist and Fagan from Oliver Twist and started to play around with that, ” says Jacot. “It’s really after you’re cast in a role that you’re afforded the time to be able to do that and turn the part into less of a character and more of a realistic individual. In this case, a strange but realistic individual,” jokes the actor.

Adric (Jacot) and one of his fellow comrades in arms, the warrior elf Perfidia (Natassia Malthe), assess their situation. Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

“Adric is the con man of Mirabilis and holds court within The Keep, which is kind of the bustling New York City of this world. He subsequently gets thrown into this journey involving Mirabilis and finds it very hard to understand what his real purpose is. Throughout his whole [story] arc, Adric finds love, certain strengths and independence that I don’t think he knew he had. It makes him that little bit more whole and human.”

At that moment, an AD (assistant director) comes over to collect Jacot, who is needed back on-set to film a scene where his character delivers a rousing speech to persuade the villagers to help fend off an attack from Dragon Eye’s soldiers. “It’s around a three-page monologue, which isn’t a great deal insofar as memorization,” he later says, “but it’s more a question of how do you sing the song of a monologue and turn it into layers that tell a story. So that’s been tricky, but, honestly, with a project like this, believing in the moment is sometimes more challenging. By that I mean scenes with dragons and things like that. That takes much more [acting] discipline.”

Led by John Serragoth (David James Elliott), Jacot and his fellow do-gooders travel the land of Mirabilis to complete their mission. A number of British Columbia locales served as the backdrop to our heroes’ dangerous journey. “On our first day of work we shot on some cliffs up towards [the resort town of] Whistler, where several of the 2010 Winter Olympic events will be held,” recalls the actor. “We’ve been filming at some other really beautiful places including rivers, waterfalls, woods and even today’s almost desert-like setting.

Three of our heroes, John Serragoth (Elliott), Adric (Jacot) and Perfidia (Malthe) head into dangerous territory. Photo by Carol Segal and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel

“At one point, they built a man-made swamp and us knights walked in up to our necks and trekked through that all night long. When we first went into the water at one in the morning it was funny, but five hours later there was nothing very funny about it,” he chuckles. “Next week we’re shooting in The Keep of Mirabilis, the capital of this world and where humans, elves and goblins gather. I’ve seen some of the sets and they’re pretty cool. No matter where we’re at, though, we’re fortunate enough to be working with a great group of people, so that makes the job much easier and enjoyable.”

If you think you have seen Jacot’s face before, you most likely have. In addition to feature films and made-for-TV movies, the actor has guest-starred on such TV shows as Mutant X, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Psych and Smallville. He also plays the recurring role of Larry Haberman on the hit Sci Fi Channel series Eureka.

“Larry is the resident kiss-ass on the show,” says Jacot. “He’s basically trying to climb the ladder at Global Dynamics, which is the scientific facility that the town of Eureka is based around. My character is a scientist there, although I don’t know if he’s much of a genius, but he’d certainly like to be. Larry harbors a very jealous streak towards anyone who has any particular talents in that regard. So he usually ends up kind of screwing himself, but it’s his own fault because he doesn’t have any stoplights when it comes to trying to knock someone else down in the hopes of gaining some glory. And that, of course, makes him that much more fun for me to play.”

Steve Eramo

As stated above, any and all photos are courtesy of and copyright of The Sci Fi Channel, so no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any fashion, please. Thanks!