Defying Gravity’s Laura Harris – Starry Eyed

Laura Harris as Zoe Barnes in Defying Gravity. Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios

For as long as she can remember, Zoe Barnes has always been the type of person who has identified a goal and then worked hard and done everything in her power to obtain it. She was determined to be one of eight astronauts selected for the Antares mission – a six-year journey to explore Venus as well as other planets orbiting Earth’s sun. Zoe succeeded in turning her dream into a reality, but in order to do so she had to abort her pregnancy, the result of a one-night stand with fellow astronaut and Antares crew member Maddox Donner. As the Antares travels deeper into space, this dark secret begins to weigh heavily on her mind, giving Defying Gravity‘s Laura Harris, who plays Zoe, the chance to deliver a multi-layered performance.

“Zoe is very confident in the way her life is going and what that path is going to look like, so much so that it verges on hubris,” explains Harris. “So what happens when you’re overconfident, crap happens, and that’s definitely the case with her, but in a way it’s good. By that I mean Zoe rediscovers her true confidence in order to get back on her path. What’s interesting about our show is that we see our characters in the past as well as present, so you have an idea of what’s going to happen with them. I like that because you don’t have to explain back story, but at the same time we as actors discover more and more about our characters as well as have more questions with each new script. That helps keep things fresh for us and the audience.

“One of the biggest challenges I had stepping into this role was getting into science mode. As soon as I got the job, I planned a trip to NASA [Goddard Space Center] in Maryland. A friend of mine who works there showed me around, which was awesome, especially from a day-to-day standpoint. There’s quite a bit of archive footage and stories about the dramatic and exciting part of space travel, but there are also the everyday jobs that have to be done. I got to meet with a lot of extraordinary scientists as well as engineers and one astronaut, who also happens to be my next-door neighbor and an engineer.

Zoe in ISO's (International Space Organization) Mission Control. Photo by Sergei Backlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios

“So that helped get me in the right mindset. Zoe is a lot like Jodie Foster’s character in [the feature film] Contact, a strong woman who has her own ideas about her life, all of which revolve around the space program and geology. My character is done with Earth rocks. Zoe wants space rocks now, and that’s all she cares about,” jokes the actress.

In the first episode of Defying Gravity, Zoe and the other prospective candidates for the Antares mission undergo a series of grueling physical tests to determine who will be able to endure their outer space adventure. This includes a ride in the centrifugal force chair, an experience that left Harris a little shaken but none the worse for wear.

“They strapped me into the chair, started to shake it and me, and said, ‘It’ll be all right,’ and it was,” she recalls. “Thank God for YouTube because it’s totally changed the way an actor can prepare for a scene like this because you can actually see the effects of things like centrifugal force and nitrogen narcosis on the human body. There’s tons of footage showing pilots experiencing such things and what you’re supposed to do, including this little breathing exercise that sort of tenses up your whole body. So that’s what I did and I think the scene turned out good, especially considering the way it was shot, which was guerilla-style.”

At work in the Antares' lab. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios

From simulated events to practical ones, the Antares crew experiences firsthand what it is like to work as well as live in zero gravity and float among the stars. That required some wire work along with green screen work for the cast of Defying Gravity, something that was both fun and taken seriously by all those involved.

“You want to be able to show a person experiencing the cosmos when they’re actually in it,” says Harris. “It’s a very human thing to just look up at the sky and experience the cosmos, but to tangibly be in it, I don’t know, I just think it must be pretty miraculous. So you don’t want to milk it, and in a show like this it’s easy to overdo something like that, especially me. I’m someone who’s into experiencing nature in all its grandeur, and I’ll admit that over the years I’ve sometimes looked kind of goofy standing in front of a green screen trying to imagine what experiencing the cosmos would be like,” laughs the actress. “I’m hoping they edited any such moments out of Defying Gravity, but I tried my best to appear believable and sincere when imagining and reacting to such situations as Zoe. I feel like we have a responsibility to the audience, and that makes the work all the more challenging.”

During their five years of training leading up to the mission, Zoe and her fellow crewmates develop relationships of varying levels and dynamics with one another. In the present, those bonds become valuable lifelines as the astronauts learn to adapt to and interact with each other onboard the Antares.

Zoe and Steve Wassenfelder (Dylan Taylor) watch intently as a situation unfolds onboard the Antares. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios

“There is a great deal of growth with all our characters’ relationships, a lot of which isn’t what you might be expecting to see, and I think that’s pretty cool,” notes Harris. “Jen Crane [Christina Cox] and Zoe are best friends, whereas Zoe and Nadia Schilling [Florentine Lahme] have this sort of modern-day love triangle between them and Donner [Ron Livingston]. Neither woman, however, is outwardly jealous of one another. Zoe and Nadia have their own rules and ideas about how they run their lives, and Donner is something that they both share, which is rather interesting. As for Zoe and Donner, they’re connected in some way. I don’t think either of them is clued into why or how, but there’s a definite connection between them that’s beyond their control.

“I have to say that working with this cast is such a delight, and that’s true of every single person. I’ve had some really awesome scenes with Paula Garces [Paula Morales]. I love her character and everything that goes on with it. It’s amazing to watch her drop into character because she does it just like that,” says the actress, snapping her fingers. “For whatever magical reason, everyone has it in their heart when it comes to playing these roles, but there is also a major and very real transformation that takes place when we’re in front of the camera. And that’s something you don’t always see. It’s very much a wow-type moment of watching your castmate deliver his or her lines, and then stepping up to the plate and trying to match what it is that they’re giving you,” she enthuses.

A familiar face to TV watchers, Harris has guest-starred on numerous series including The X-Files, Stargate Atlantis and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as had recurring or regular roles on 24, The Dead Zone, Woman’s Murder Club and Dead Like Me. In the latter, she played Daisy Adair, an actress from the 40′s who died but was then reborn as one of a group of “grim reapers” who collect the souls of others just before death and help them cross over to the other side. 

A contemplative moment for Zoe in the Antares' observation room. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios

“I loved doing Dead Like Me because I got to be girly, and the thing is, I don’t think I’m really a girly girl at all,” says the actress. “Daisy was so different from who I am, so it was a true acting adventure. And as a cast, we had so much ridiculous fun together. We had such raw creative energy and everything we did was full of love. The show was truly a gift and I’m so glad I had the chance to do it.”

For Harris, it is who she works with that makes her job so rewarding. “You can’t beat experiencing creative teamwork with really special, interesting people,” she muses. “I love people anyway, and acting makes you go to places that you might not necessarily want to. In the process, you end up loving and appreciating people even more, because things that may seem unapproachable as qualities in others, all of a sudden aren’t so unapproachable, do you know what  I mean? And that sort of realization makes anything in this world seem possible.”

Steve Eramo

Defying Gravity is produced by Fox TV Studios and OmniFilm Productions in association with the BBC, Canada’s CTV and Germany’s ProSieben. As noted above, all photos by Sergei Bachlakov or Kharen Hill and copyright of ABC TV and Fox TV Studios, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Defying Gravity’s Paula Garces – Act Of Faith

Paula Garces as Paula Morales on Defying Gravity. Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

If you have to go to work, it helps if you like your job, and that is definitely true of Defying Gravity‘s Paula Garces. It is only the middle of what looks to be a long day on the show’s Vancouver set, but the actess is still full of energy and eager to talk about her involvement in the series. Her character of Paula Morales is part of an international team of eight astronauts who, after five years of intense training, set off in 2052 on a six-year journey to explore our solar system onboard the spaceship Antares. Besides her duties as mission payload specialist, Paula is also transmitting daily status reports back to school classrooms on Earth. It goes without saying that she wears a lot of proverbial hats, and Morales could not wait to try on every single one of them.

“My character is obviously of Latin descent, although we haven’t specified exactly from where,” notes the actress, who is back in her trailer after a quick visit to make-up in preparation for her next scene. “Paula is also a scientist and a pilot as well as extremely religious and conservative, so she’s constantly having to deal with conflicts between her faith and science as well as religion. On top of that, Paula is experiencing the various difficulties that I think anyone in real life would be faced with if they were travelling in space and separated from their family and friends for an extended period of time. She’s in charge of a space classroom as well, and when you lump all that together, Paula can occasionally be a little bit off-putting because she’s quite misunderstood by those around her.

“So she needs to be a number of different people at the same time. Paula has to be bubbly and smart along with cute and charming so that the kids back on Earth will listen and actually learn something from her. At the same time, she has some dark issues to deal with and, again, is conflicted, which sometimes ticks off the people she works with. So it’s been really interesting to see her develop, and I’ve been very lucky as far as the writing. The show’s producers/writers have given me a great storyline that I can wrap myself around and lose myself in. It’s a lot to do, but I love it and I hope I’m doing a good job.

“This part is full of layers and, again, I’m thrilled with the fact that my character is not only a scientist and astronaut, but also someone of faith. At the beginning I was wondering how that would work, but in researching the role I discovered that several astronauts are religious, specifically Catholic, and have even taken communion up in space and things of that nature. There is so much I can play with as Paula, including the fact that she’s petite and cute and sometimes doesn’t get taken very seriously. Yes, there are still stereotypes that she has to fight against, even in the not-so-distant future. It only goes to show that everything changes, and yet some things remain the same.”

Paula Morales holding "virtual class" with her students back on Earth. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

Like most acting opportunities, Garces was sent the pilot script for Defying Gravity by her manager, and as soon as she began reading it, she became enamored of the Paula Morales character. “That can sometimes be the kiss of death for an actor,” she says. “We get sent so many scripts, a lot of which aren’t very good. So when a good script does come along, you fall in love with it, but you don’t want to deal with the heartbreak in case things don’t work out.

“I actually flew to Toronto to audition for the role with Michael Edelstein [series executive producer] and David Straiton, who directed our first episode. I was very nervous, but David read with me and said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re totally rocking it.’ As soon as I heard that, it kind of gave me the confidence that I think the role needed. I also feel that was something that James Parriott [series creator/executive producer] needed to subsequently see from me in-person, too, because prior to this they had just watched a tape of my work. Once that saw that confidence, though, I think that’s what made them decide, ‘OK, maybe we should give Paula Garces a shot at this role.’ So I really have to thank David for saying what he did to me during my audition, which is not typical. You usually don’t know that early on whether or not they like you. Sometimes I think I’m totally awesome during an audition, but I guess I stink because I don’t get the job,” jokes the actress. “Other times, I think I blew it and I get hired. It’s a crazy business, but in this case I’m delighted that things worked out the way they did.”

Although Garces’ audition jitters soon became a distant memory, those butterflies in her stomach returned, albeit briefly, when filming began on Defying Gravity‘s opening episode. “I think we were all terrified because it’s such a big show,” she says. “We had to establish the ship and the outer space elements as well as our characters’ training and them being astronauts and so forth. Then there were the technical elements, including getting to know the sets, dealing with green screen and the wire work, the latter of which is necessary with any scene where there is zero gravity and our characters have to ‘float.’

“So that was all pretty daunting simply because there was so much foundation for us to lay, and if you don’t do it right away and grab your audience’s attention, then they won’t give the series a chance. Having said that, I think our first episode stands on its own and hooks you into our story and all its wonder, which includes hope for the future and finding answers to the unknown.

All smiles inside the Antares' lab. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“The thing is, I see this show as being less Science Fiction and more Science Fact. It deals with things that are happening now in the real world with regard to space travel and how it’s likely to change or improve over the next 40 or 50 years. That’s a huge undertaking because you have to keep things real. You can’t be like, ‘OK, we’re going to magically teleport ourselves to that planet.’ Everything has to be thought out and make sense. So our first story really gives you a taste of what the relationships between these people are like and what they’ll be facing in their next six years together on this extraordinary mission that I believe humankind would one day want to take.”

When it comes to relationships, perhaps the oddest one onboard the Antares is between Paula and theoretical physicist Steve Wassenfelder (Dylan Taylor). The two formed an unexpected bond during training, specifically during medical training when a man under the influence of an unusual drug died in front of them. Since leaving Earth orbit, ”Wass” has taken pot shots at Paula’s religious beliefs, and at one point even accidentally injured her, but despite this there remains a connection between them.

“Now that I’ve watched some of the footage, I find Paula and Wass to be the ‘youth vote’ on the ship if you will,” muses Garces. “As for the actual reason why she feels connected to him, I believe it’s because she finds Wass brilliant. At first he comes across as a slacker, and I think Paula sees him as a waste of talent. My character is someone who works hard and is very disciplined, so she doesn’t quite get the whole slacker mentality. However, what Paula eventually comes to realize is that this is just Wass’ way of dealing with the isolation of space and being on this mission, which is actually a pretty smart way of looking at things.

“As these two characters have their conversations and debates, because they have quite a few debates on science and religion, Paula sees that underneath all that information and ‘I don’t care’ attitude, Wass has a huge heart. And I think vice versa, he admires how disciplined she is. He begins to realize that maybe he should worry about Paula and try to give her certain [scientific] information that perhaps she’s a little too stubborn to see because of her faith.”

Moments before an unfortunate accident that nearly ended Paula's involvement in the Antares mission. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

Coincidentally, one of Garces’ favorite Defying Gravity moments is with her and Dylan Taylor. “I love doing wire work, and there’s a scene between Paula and Wass where a section of the ship loses gravity,” says the actress. “As tricky as it was doing the wire work, there was a great deal of humor in that scene. I don’t want to spoil it for those who might not have seen the episode yet, but one of these two characters isn’t a very good astronaut when it comes to floating, but I’m not going to tell you who,” she teases.

“That scene was so funny and realistic, because if you stop and think about it, astronauts are human beings, right, and not robots. Once they finish whatever tasks they’re supposed to do in a day when they’re up there in space, they have to live their lives. So they’re working out, eating, sleeping, reading, acting silly, whatever, and I think this particular scene with Paula and Wass helped bring out the human side of what could happen to someone up in space who’s not accustomed to being in zero gravity. The special effects in the scene are incredible and how we shot it was really cool. It was done in a very different style and we used a bunch of tricks that I didn’t even know about, so it was a great learning experience as well.”

The eldest of two sisters, Garces grew up in New York’s Spanish Harlem and was raised by her mother, who encouraged her interest in the arts. “I had braces when I was 12, and by coincidence I met this agent at a dinner party that my mom gave,” recalls the actress. “She thought I was cute and said to me, ‘Come see me when you get your braces off because I think you can make some money doing TV commercials.’

“A year later that same agent came to our house again and she asked me, ‘Why didn’t you come see me?’ Later on, my mom asked me to at least make an effort to go see this woman because she was her friend, so I did and ended up getting five auditions, including one with [producer/writer/director] Martin Scorsese. Of course, I had no idea who he was, and when I got home from the audition my mom asked how it went. I told her it was OK and that I spoke with some guy whose last name sounded like Spacey. My mom called her friend to find out more, and this woman told her, ‘Well, first of all, your daughter was auditioning for Martin Scorcese, who is directing a public service announcement about drugs, alcohol, teenage sex and AIDS. It’s going to be shown in theaters nationwide and, oh, by the way, she got the job. Paula is super-funny, down-to-Earth and was the only one who was completely honest and kind of told him [Martin] off.’

Having previously worked together on another series, Paula Garces and Malik Yoba (Ted Shaw) are reunited on Defying Gravity. Photo be Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“My mom was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ and after hanging up the phone she immediately educated me on who Martin Scorsese was,” laughs Garces. “He’s the reason I got my SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card, and from there I was lucky enough to get work on most of the New York-based TV series including Law and Order as well as New York Undercover with Malik Yoba [Ted Shaw on Defying Gravity], Oz and The Sopranos. I got my big break when Jerry Bruckheimer cast me in Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Following that I did a soap opera [The Guiding Light] for three years, then [the feature films] Clockstoppers and Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, and I just carried on from there.”

On TV, the actress is perhaps best known for her performance as Officer Tina Hanlon on the crticially-acclaimed FX series The Shield. “Every single day on the The Shield was a wonderful challenge,” she says. “I was only supposed to do one episode. From what I remember, the producers were auditioning very muscular women for this particular role, and here I was this tiny little thing. However, I thought, ‘The easy route for a female cop would be a big, muscular, in-shape, tough looking woman. But what about the female cops out there who don’t necessarily look intimidating, but who are still street-smart, know they can kick ass, and have an intuition about them that would be an asset on the streets as far as fighting crime.’

“So that’s how I spun it, and I think they saw in my audition that I would be good next to this big guy, Michael Jace [Officer Julian Lowe], who ended up being my partner on the show, and the dynamic worked. After that first episode, they asked me if I would continue as a recurring character, and the next season they invited me to be part of the regular cast. It was a fantastic program to work on and, of course, after they established my character, they took great pleasure in having this cute little girl run through the streets, beating up bad guys with a baton, and cuffing them,” laughs Garces. “They gave me all this nasty, gritty material, and I think the show’s writers enjoyed seeing the expression on my face when I’d first read the scripts. It’s that quality and high standard of writing that keeps you on your toes and interested in your job. It’s the same on Defying Gravity.”

As the actress approaches her 20th year in the business, Garces has not become at all jaded about the work, and has no intensions of falling into that trap. “I still get a thrill out of booking a job,” she enthuses. “You study your lines, go into the audition room, bear your soul and hope that they like you. I don’t know what it is about us actors, but we’re desperate for other people to like us and reward us for just memorizing our lines. So when I get that phone call from my agent or my manager saying I got the job, it’s such a high for me. It’s the best phone call you can get as an actor.”

Steve Eramo

Defying Gravity is produced by Fox Television Studios and OmniFilm Productions in association with the BBC, Canada’s CTV and Germany’s ProSieben. As noted above, all photos by Sergei Bachlakov or Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Defying Gravity’s Eyal Podell – Physician Heal Thy Self

Defying Gravity's Dr. Evram Mintz (Eyal Podell). Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC.

On the surface, Dr. Evram Mintz appears ready to take his first step into the unknown. As a member of the International Space Organization (ISO), he participated in a five-year program in preparation for six-year mission onboard the spaceship Antares to explore the other planets in our solar system. However, like his fellow shipmates, Evram brings with him some emotional and psychological baggage that could compromise his ability to care for the physical and mental well-being of those around him. Facing his inner demons is not easy for Evram, but for the actor who plays him on Defying Gravity, Eyal Podell, it is part of discovering just who his character is.

“Evram is the Antares crew physician, psychiatrist, resident drunk and in many ways voice of reality,” says Podell, who is dressed in his character’s flight suit and waiting in his trailer to be called to set. “The greatest [acting] challenge with him came, I think, when my conception of the character changed. Once all the roles were cast and everyone came together, we realized that between Zahf [Paroo], who plays Ajay Sharma, Florentine [Lahme], who plays Nadia, and Peter Howitt [who plays Trevor Williams], we already had three or four different accents on the show.

“So [executive producers] Jim Parriott and Michael Edelstein said, ‘Let’s strip the accent away from your character.’ That immediately sent me right back to ground zero because I felt in many ways that one of Evram’s defining characteristics was his foreign personality [Israeli] and point of view. So having to kind of start from the ground up again was a bit of a challenge, and then in the first few scripts there wasn’t much character revelation or backstory with Evram. However, as episodes four, five, six, seven and eight came along, more and more of Evram’s history began coming through,” enthuses the actor, “so that allowed me to piece him together.

“In general, astronauts have to be terribly brave, visionary and optimistic people, and part of my challenge was figuring out what the hell was Evram doing here. That meant talking with Jim and Michael about exactly why he wanted to be part of this mission, other than the grandeur of being one of the first humans to travel to these other planets. There must have been something else behind it, and answering that question helped me form a clearer picture of my character. Evram has a dim view of humanity and he’s experienced the trauma of war. He has been involved in some of the big Middle Eastern conflicts that have taken place in the future, and those experiences obviously shaped his outlook on life as well as humankind.

Evram ponders what situation might unfold next onboard the Antares. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“Maybe it was a subconscious choice of Evram’s to get on a spaceship and get as far away as possible from his own flaws, including his issues with alcohol and war. If he’s billions of miles away, he doesn’t have to be drafted, or read on the Internet or watch on the news the non-stop footage of bombings, killings and murders – the atrocities that man commits against man.”

Was it destiny that led Podell to his role on Defying Gravity? Ironically, when he was in 10th grade, the actor wrote a term paper about being a doctor. “Then, though, I realized I didn’t have the stomach to go to medical school and spend however long it would take with internships, residencies and all that other stuff,” he recalls.

“However, my parents raised me with the idea that an education is your ticket in life. One of the really important things they did for me was make sure I went to a good college [Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire] so that I would have the proper foundation and tools to pursue whatever [career] I wanted. So I actually came into this business thinking, ‘OK, I’ll try this for a little while and see what happens,’ but I soon found that it was almost like a drug. You get a little bit of the joy early on and become hooked. From there, I chipped away at it [acting] and built a resume role-by-role. Just a few years ago I booked my first regular job on a soap opera [The Young and the Restless] and landing Defying Gravity is my first big break.”

The pilot episode of Defying Gravity establishes that the story is told in present day (2052) and in space with the Antares crew – four men and four women – as well as in flashbacks where the astronauts first meet and start their mission training. Audiences also see that despite Evram Mintz’s rather dark and grim view of the human race, he has not scared away someone who truly cares about him.

Dr. Evram Mintz during training for the Antares mission. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“In the first episode we’re introduced to my character’s love interest, Dr. Claire Dereux, played by Maxine Roy, and it would appear that she and Evram have been in a relationship for a number of years,” notes Podell. “And it’s been interesting to find out through the flashback element of the show how they came to be in that relationship. It’s also a little strange because in the flashbacks we’re all just meeting as a crew, so we don’t quite know each other that well yet. However, in the present day, we’ve already been through five years of training, so what does that mean in terms of our relationships? Which of our strengths as well as weaknesses did we reveal to each other during training? What personal struggles have we seen one another experience? Have we been there for each other as shoulders to cry on? Have we picked one another up off the ground and said, ‘Come on, get back on the horse.’ Have we had fist-fights? Who knows?

“So there’s a while lot of history to be filled in. However, what we do sort of assume is that we’ve reached a point where we can look around at each other and say, ‘I trust you with my life.’ There’s a camaraderie among the crew. They’re a family, and they have to be because they’re going to be together for a very long time. That being said, even with your brothers and sisters, you feel like ‘killing them’ sometimes, which I think is a compelling aspect of our show, especially in that these people are essentially locked under one roof.”

Acting-wise, has it been difficult for Podell jockeying between flashbacks and present day? “It’s not so much the bouncing back and forth as to who we [the characters] are, but more how we relate to one another,” he says. “With relationships in general, you come into them being neutral. So as our characters come into the [training] program, they look at one another and think, ‘Oh, there’s a guy, and there’s a girl.’ The exceptions to that are those who have reputations, like Maddux Donner [Ron Livingston], Ted Shaw [Malik Yoba] and some of the other astronauts who have done some incredible things. However, the rest of these people look at each other and they don’t know one another from a hole in the wall, so they don’t have any preconceived notions.

“As the series begins to unfold, we see our characters in the flashbacks start to uncover pieces about each other. They then gather all this ‘evidence’ up and we sort of see how that affects their perception of one another. So the flashback elements are fascinating in that our characters are still trying to pull things out of each other and fill in the gaps. It’s a strange dynamic, and in some ways I feel like those scenes are much more fun to play when it comes to character development.”

Evram on-duty in the Antares' sickbay. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

As far as a favorite Defying Gravity episode, one immediately comes to the actor’s mind. “Part of our characters’ training involves having to back each other up job-wise if necessary,” explains Podell. “So as a physician, Evram has to teach the other astronaut candidates something about medicine. So that was a fun episode where I really got to play doctor and ‘perform’ surgeries and things of that nature. As an actor, I’d never had to do scenes like that before involving medical jargon, special effects, blood and guts and cool equipment like you see on TV. Evram also gets to share some of his backstory with the other characters, which I was pleased about.

“Funnily enough, my wife went in for surgery not too long ago to have her appendix removed. I wanted to make her feel at ease, so I was trying to make light of the moment and asked the surgeons, ‘Do you want me to scrub up? I’ve had some experience.’ I started throwing words around that I’d used in the show and the doctors were looking at me as if to say, ‘Hey, you know your stuff.’ I had a photo taken on my cell phone of me on-set, which I showed to the surgeon and said, ‘See, I’ve been there.’ Meanwhile, my wife is rolling her eyes and saying, ‘He just plays a doctor on TV. Don’t let him near me,’” chuckles the actor.

While Sci-Fi drama is nothing new to TV, Podell is hoping that audiences look deeper into Defying Gravity and discover what makes it different. “Michael Edelstein and Jim Parriott refer to this as Science Fact, and I think that’s very interesting given that we’re right on the cusp of these [real world] advancements with the European Space Agency as well as China and a whole new space race that’s being launched,” muses the actor. “All these things are relevant because our show looks at what’s going to happen with the space program 30 or 40 years from now. Although the series is set in the future, it’s not so far ahead that you can’t comprehend it. I think audiences will be curious to see what our technology might be capable of and where humanity might be headed as far as working together to explore the universe.

“There is also the fact that the stakes with space travel are quite high from a very real perspective because our characters don’t have transporters or any of the typical Sci-Fi devices. For example, they’re still vulnerable to the affects of exposure to space on the human body. I think it’s in the pilot where Donner says something like, ‘When exposed to the vacuum of space, humans are like pinatas. We just explode, burst, freeze, die, etc.’ So it’s a fine line between life and death, which is always intriguing. And then there is the mystery element to our story, in that what are we going to find when we get out there in the universe.

Evram Mintz standing in one of the Antares corridors. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“Jim and Michael have some really cool stuff planned when it comes to planting things along the way and piquing the audience’s interest to make people wonder what’s going to happen next.”

In addition to Defying Gravity, the actor’s other TV credits include CSI: NY, ER, The West Wing, House and Without A Trace as well as recurring roles on 24 and The Game. On the big screen, Podell made his debut playing Al Pacino’s son in The Insider, and has since appeared in such movies as Unconditional Love, Blowing Smoke and the independent feature Hard Scrambled. His fans perhaps best know him for his two-year stint on the aforementioned The Young and the Restless, as well as his multiple episode arc as Ryan Burnett in season seven of 24.

“24 was a lot of fun,” says Podell. “It was great to be back on-set with Kurtwood Smith, who played my boss [Senator Blaine Mayer] in the show. He also played my boss in a little independent film we both worked on. Kurtwood tortured me in that, and here I was getting tortured by Kiefer Sutherland [Jack Bauer] in 24,” jokes the actor. “It was awesome getting to watch Kiefer at work. I’m always looking to learn from people who have been in this business longer than I have and have endured. Kiefer gave 150% of himself. he was the hardest working guy on-set and totally dedicated and committed to making the best product possible. Not one ounce of him was phoning it in, and I thought that was amazing.

“The response I received from people about my being in the show was terrific. The second they saw me on it, they started saying, ‘You’re going to die, right? He’s going to kill you. That’s what happens. If you’re with Jack Bauer, you’re dead.’ So that was tough having to keep my mouth shut about it for a few months. Of course, my character got tortured and then had his throat slit. I don’t know why, but I tend to get killed a lot on TV. Hopefully that won’t happen here,” he says laughing.

No matter where his career takes him, Podell will never forget something Gene Hackman said to him and a group of other actors during a break on the set of Behind Enemy Lines. “One day we were all sitting around – these young actors playing sailors and naval airmen – and nervously pretending to do something else other than stare at Gene Hackman while he was sitting there reading a book,” says the actor.

Evram monitors a situation while on-duty on the Antares flight deck. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC

“Gene could sense that we were all hoping that he would say something, so he looked up and asked, ‘Do you guys still audition?’ It was a totally redundant question,which he knew, and we were all like, ‘Sure.’ And he said, ‘Man, I used to love to audition.’ At first I thought, ‘Why?’ and then it dawned on me that he got to be the success he is because there was nothing else he’d rather do than walk into a roomful of strangers and put on a ‘show’ for two minutes. It wasn’t about being in Yugoslavia and filming a multi-million dollar feature for Fox Studios. It was about the bare minimum of that moment in the audition room, and that for two minutes a day, a week, twice a week, whatever, you get to entertain people. Learning little lessons like that early on in my career is what continues to serve me well in this business.”

Steve Eramo

Defying Gravity is produced by Fox Television Studios and OmniFilmProductions, in association with the BBC, Canada’s CTV and Germany’s ProSieben. As noted above, photos by Kharen Hill or Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Defying Gravity’s Florentine Lahme – In The Pilot’s Seat

Florentine Lahme as Nadia Schilling in Defying Gravity. Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

Come on, be honest. There has been at least one birthday when you didn’t get exactly what you wanted. That was not the case, however, for German-born actress Florentine Lahme, who, on her last birthday, received what she calls a “very nice present” when auditioning for the role of Nadia Schilling on Defying Gravity.

“My first audition actually was on my birthday, and it was pretty exciting because it led to a callback for the role of Nadia,” says Lahme. “The second time around I did a video conference with the show’s producers, who were in Los Angeles and watching me in Germany. That was exciting, too, and a bit scary. I was doing a night shoot that evening for a film in Germany and my head was so full of lines and information that I couldn’t really concentrate on the audition. Fortunately, it was the same scene that I did for my first audition, so I did it once again. Then a month or two later I received a phone call asking me, ‘Would you like to come to Vancouver and join the series,’ and I told them, ‘Sure,” she says smiling.

“The funny thing is when I was a child, my Mom asked me, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and I said, ‘Maybe an astronaut.’ I don’t think I’d like to be one now in real life, but being one on TV is good.”

On Defying Gravity, Lahme portrays Nadia Schilling, an ace pilot who graduated at the top of her class at the International Space Organization (ISO). Highly intelligent and a striking beauty, she is not afraid to put her sex appeal or keen mathematical/scientific mind to good use, depending on what the situation requires. Nadia demands nothing less than perfection from herself and expects the same from her fellow astronauts onboard the Antares when they set off into outer space to explore Earth’s solar system. Jetting across the Atlantic, Lahme was anxious to step into Nadia’s shoes and begin work on the first of 13 season one episodes, but first she had to find her space legs as it were.

Nadia at the controls on the Antares flight deck. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

“I always have huge problems with jet-lag,” admits the actress. “So I was still pretty jet-lagged my first day of work. However, beyond that, the first thing I was impressed with were the sets, which are very expensive. On top of that, and more importantly, I felt like I was in good hands because of everyone working on the show.

“We had a great deal of green screen work to do in the first episode, so we constantly had to imagine what was going on out there in space. I also had to get used to wearing a wig, which I wear during the flashbacks. In the first episode, I had a love scene with Ron Livingston [Maddux Donner], too. Its always difficult when you don’t know each other and have to do a love scene. I get sweaty palms just thinking about it,” she jokes. “So I don’t love doing love scenes, but I do love David Straiton, who directed this episode. I really enjoyed working with him and he made it fun and really easy for me.”

Although she is not afraid to speak her mind, Nadia does not wear her emotions on her sleeve, so it took the actress a little time to figure her out. “Nadia is a funny character,” notes Lahme. “When I first read the script I thought, ‘Is she really human, or maybe she’s a robot? I don’t know.’ Nadia is very much focused on her job. She’s quite ambitious as well as earnest and always wants to be number one.

“You don’t get the feeling that Nadia is a terribly emotional person. She’s on her own most of the time and isn’t really interested in getting too close to her coworkers, except for Donner, of course, because he’s her lover. But the thing is, she treats him like a sex toy or tool. I like to describe her as a combination of the Terminator and Barbie, because you cannot look into her at all. She’s pretty icy. However, as the episodes go on, you actually get some insight into her emotionally and I get to reveal her vulnerable side, which I was very pleased about.”

Antares Commander Ted Shaw (Malik Yoba) and Nadia. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

Given that she is on a six-year mission with seven other astronauts, Nadia does make the effort to behave in a professional and cordial fashion towards her colleagues. Unfortunately, she has difficulty doing so when it comes to dealing with one particular member of the crew. “I enjoy working with Dylan [Taylor], who plays Steve Wassenfelder. His character and Nadia have a special relationship – she can’t stand him,” chuckles the actress. “My character likes to complain to him, ‘You eat too much and behave like a 12-year-old boy.’

“She doesn’t understand why Wassenfelder has been chosen for this mission, and I love the scenes with the two of them because they always butt heads. That makes for an acting challenge because in real life I like Dylan, but on TV I have to dislike him. Whenever a scene makes me feel uncomfortable I think it’s great because, again, it provides me with an acting challenge.”

While her character may feel uncomfortable relating to her crewmates, Lahme has no such problems with her Defying Gravity castmates. “The last show I did in Germany [GSG 9, an action series about an elite team of crime fighters] had a large cast, too,” she says. “So I’m used to working with a lot of actors, and I think it’s terrific that we have such a variety of nationalities – the Latina, the Israeli, the Indian, the German – and everyone is so nice. Sometimes you have the problem where someone is very arrogant, but that’s not true here. Everyone is very friendly. If, for example, there’s a word in the script that I don’t understand and it’s not in my [German/English] dictionary, they’ll help me figure it out. So it truly is a pleasure working with them.”

A native of Berlin, Lahme was 16 years old when she began modeling part-time to earn some extra money to help pay for her studies in economics and Japanese at the University of Berlin. That eventually led to her being invited to audition for TV shows. “It was really by accident that I got into this business,” recalls the actress. “My first TV job was a German soap opera set in a hospital, and I played a nurse. I was familiar with working in front of a camera because of my modeling, but it still felt a bit weird. Very soon, though, I began to feel like it was ‘my thing,’ and suddenly I knew I had to do this for a living.”

Nadia during training for the Antares mission. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

Along with Defying Gravity, the actress recently appeared with David James Elliott and James Cromwell in the Sci-Fi miniseries Impact. She has also worked on a variety of made-for-TV movies and German TV series, among the latter is the aforementioned GSG 9. “In that show I did pretty much what Nadia does in Defying Gravity as far as looking at a screen and giving advice,” explains Lahme.

“My character [Petra Helmholtz] was the brains on this particular show, and oh, God, the technobabble and all the monologues. I remember one day I had three pages of monologue and we didn’t have time to rehearse. So I just did it and it worked. I’m a very lucky girl in that I have a photographic memory, so if I have to do tech-talk, and even if I don’t understand it, it doesn’t matter. I can just picture the words in my mind and say them. That’s a great gift for an actor.”

Feature film-wise, Lahme starred in one of the most successful German movies ever, the romantic comedy Keinohrhasen (Rabbit With Ears). Other big screen credits include Fire, Maximum and the horror thriller Metamorphosis starring Christopher Lambert (Highlander). “I loved Highlander and I fell in love with Duncan MacLeod [Christopher Lambert],” says Lahme. “When I was cast in Metamorphosis I thought, ‘Oh, boy, I get to work with Christopher Lambert.’ He is so cute and down-to-Earth. I really haven’t had bad luck in my career so far. I always end up working with great people, thank goodness.”

Like all actors, whatever the part, Lahme wants her character to come across as believable. If she can achieve that, then it is a good day’s work for her. “When I watch myself onscreen, if I can feel it [the moment], if I get goosebumps, then I find that truly satisfying,” says the actress. “What I also enjoy about this job is that you can be anyone you ever wanted to, but cannot be in real life. That’s why I enjoyed modeling. I don’t want to wear fancy dresses all the time, but just for one day to take some nice pictures. Otherwise, I like to be comfortable. What I’m wearing right now, it’s casual, and that’s me. So being any character you want in front of the camera and playing her convincingly are the biggest [acting] rewards for me.”

Steve Eramo

Defying Gravity is produced by Fox Television Studios and OmniFilm Productions, in association with the BBC, Canada’s CTV and Germany’s ProSieben. As noted above, photos by Sergei Bachlakov or Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Defying Gravity’s Christina Cox – Scientific Method

Defying Gravity's Christina Cox as Jen Crane. Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

It is far from an ordinary day onboard the spaceship Antares for Defying Gravity‘s biologist Jen Crane. Rather than running experiments on plant samples or reviewing the progress of frozen animal embryos, she is standing on the ship’s observation deck and helping deal with a life and death situation unfolding before her eyes. It is an emotional scene and one that actress Christina Cox, who plays Jen, is obviously relishing. Having fought aliens as Major Anne Teldy on Stargate Atlantis, chased demons as Vicki Nelson on Blood Ties, and hunted down Vin Diesel’s Riddick as mercenary soldier Eve Logan in The Chronicles of Riddick, blasting off into outer space seems the next logical step for Cox. However, while Defying Gravity may be set among the stars, it was the story’s more down-to-Earth elements that initially attracted her to the part.

“I’d heard about Fox Studio’s plan this year for different shows, including one being shot in Vancouver involving eight astronauts – four women and four men - and I thought, “Hmm, Vancouver, plus Sci-Fi or spatial, and Christina; perhaps there’s something there. What are the odds that I might be going into space?’” says a smiling Cox during a break in filming on the Defying Gravity set. “I asked my manager to keep an eye out for this show because I always like coming home and the idea really intrigued me, which is the exploration of human relationships n such an extreme situation and the types of personalities that wind up in these kinds of jobs. Obviously they’re going to be pretty extraordinary people, and yet human beings with flaws, issues, baggage, damage and all that, which we learn about as we go along.

Jen Crane in ISO's (International Space Organization) Mission Control prior to leaving on her mission of exploration. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

“When I eventually read the script I thought it was fantastic, and contrary to what some people are going to think when they see that we’re astronauts on a spaceship, it never read to me like a Sci-Fi show whatsoever. I’m often asked why do I do so much Sci-Fi, and I really don’t have an answer. It’s just a coincidence. It’s not like I look at a script and go, ‘Ah, ha, oh, no, it’s not Sci-Fi. Forget it.’ It just so happens that I’ve done a lot of Sci-Fi, but, again, this never read to me like a ‘space show.’ On the contrary, it read to me like a relationship drama with a light touch and a fair degree of humor and sensibility, and that’s something I was interested in exploring. I’ve had a great time doing straight Sci-Fi shows and firing 50 clips with my P90. I love that training and all that action, but I was really looking forward to getting my teeth into a character-driven show, and that, to me, is what this is.

“Probably more than anything else, Defying Gravity is about the alien within all of us and that we’re trying to get to know,” continues the actress. “We only learn to understand that [alien] self through experience, and this is such an extreme experience. Everyone’s issues are going to rise to the top and they’ll be forced to confront them. I think that’s what a situation like this does, and one of the issues that we’re dealing with right now [in the real world] as far as trying to plan long-term space missions, is what will something like that do to the human psyche? How will we cope if we’re out there longer than six months? On our show, these people are facing six years of isolation from their family, friends, social network, etc., and it’s going to have an effect on their psyches. Will they lose it? Will the ship come back empty with a bunch of blood smears on it? That’s not Science Fiction, that’s hardcore reality, and as human beings are we equipped to survive that?

“Acting-wise, I liked that the character of Jen that I’ve been give the opportunity to play has some real issues that are actually going to be confronted. Why is she so messed up? We’re going to find out, and I was really looking forward to playing someone a little more flawed, a little darker and a little more sympathetic. There are so many great characters on this show, and one of the things I enjoy about Jen is that she can be slightly less together than, say, Vicki [from Blood Ties] was. Although in truth, Vicki was not truly together at all. She was just better at putting on a front.”

Jen senses that something is not quite right onboard the Antares. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

In Defying Gravity, the straight-talking yet compassionate biologist Jen Crane is part of a team of astronauts who, in the near future, are chosen for a six-year mission to explore Venus and other planets in our solar system. Although she had plenty of scientific credentials required for such a task, Jen still had to undergo an intensive physical and mental training program with the rest of the prospective Antares crewmembers. Like her TV counterpart, Cox did her own “training” before going in front of the cameras to play Jen.

“In my research for this series I was lucky enough to speak with the psychiatrist who is on the selection committee for the Canadian Space Program, and, in fact, had been my neighbor from the time I was around eight years old,” she notes. “His current job is helping pick candidates for the Canadian Space Program, and the thing is they really don’t know what the long-term effects of this kind of isolation might be. Their studies include profiling for the personality types best suited for the sort of mission that we’re seeing on our show. One of the big questions is will they be able to have social interaction among a small group of people for six months, a year, two years, six years? Also, are they media savvy Do they put on a good front? They have to be able to communicate with the public and be sympathetic to them because the space program relies so much on public funding.

“On our show we have two groups on the ship – the engineers and the scientists – and they have very different objectives in the way they process information and search for answers. As an actor, this is my first time being on the science side of things, which is the ‘what if?’ as opposed to, ‘OK, how do I handle this? How do I fix this? How do I contain it and make it function in a reasonable and tangible way?’ which is more the engineering side. I’ve played law enforcement types, lawyers, federal agents and other people who need solutions. They’re a little bit more linear in their thinking. They don’t want things to keep extrapolating beyond the realm of their knowledge, and the thing is, Jen is looking for evidence of life outside of Earth. It’s her belief that we’re not the only sentient beings in the universe, so she’s hoping to prove that. And in the process, she’s also trying to figure out if we as human beings can survive out of our [familiar] environment for extended periods of time.”

A bit of downtime for Jen in the Antares galley. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

During the Antares training program, Jen befriends geologist Zoe Barnes (Laura Harris), who, after a one-night stand with astronaut Maddux Donner (Ron Livingston), ends up pregnant. Meanwhile, Jen becomes romantically involved with astronaut Ted Shaw (Malik Yoba), but later falls in love with astronaut Rollie Crane (Ty Olsson). The couple marry two years before being assigned to the mission, but when Rollie and a second crewmember are subsequently grounded due to a medical condition, Donner and Shaw are ordered to replace them. Needless to say, all these prior relationships make for plenty of riveting space drama.

“It turns out that Jen’s primary relationship is not with her husband, but her best friend Zoe,” says Cox. “It’s an interesting journey personally because at the beginning of the series, Zoe and Jen meet during training, so their friendship is new, just like the friendship between me and Laura Harris. So it’s been evolving and developing story by story, and the more information that Laura and I get, and the more shared experiences our characters have, only helps further inform us when it comes to our performances.

“Jen believes that she’s going on this mission with her husband and her best friend, but by the end of our first episode, complications arise and now she is going to spend the next six years with her ex-boyfriend and her best friend, while her husband Rollie is back on Earth. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be trapped anywhere with an ex-boyfriend for six years,” chuckles the actress. “Can you imagine, your ex and six other folks onboard a spaceship. Never go on a cruise or get into any type of vehicle where you may be stuck somewhere for a long period of time with an ex. This is my advice. After all my years of life experience, that’s what I’ve come up with.

L-R (front row) - On the Antares observation deck: Maddox Donner, Zoe Barnes and Jen Crane; (back row) Nadia Schilling (Florentine Lahme) and Dr. Evram Mintz (Eyal Podell). Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

“With Ted and Jen, it depends on how long they were together and how difficult their break-up was. We’re still discovering as we go along on the series exactly what happened with them as well as Rollie and Jen. So it could get a little awkward up there in space, and maybe a little weird, too, but it’s all good. Again, there are human issues being dealt with in a heightened situation involving these characters, and there are secrets that they’re discovering. It’s like the Lost world. People describe this show as Grey’s Anatomy in space with a touch of Lost. I have to say that I like the idea of secrets in the story. It makes it more compelling and it’s definitely going to be quite a trip for audiences to follow. The secrets are causing our characters to reflect on their own issues and life experiences, which I think is fantastic. It’s done with a light touch as well, and I don’t mean in a shallow or insubstantial way, but rather not hitting you on the head.”

When asked about her work filming the first episode of Defying Gravity, one word immediately comes to Cox’s mind. “Terror,” she recalls. “It’s such a big show, and my first ensemble show, and everyone blew me away because they’re so flippin’ talented. You’re surrounded by this group of people, each of whom are very special and bring so many different things to the table, and suddenly you realize that you’re in a situation to create something quite special and interesting. The casting process for this program was a long one, but the result has been a particular type of alchemy that’s needed for a TV series to work.

“A studio can cast a movie by numbers, bring in blockbuster stars and then hope it works, but there are films where that’s been done and they fall flat because the chemistry isn’t there. Of course, I’d like Defying Gravity to be a huge hit and have a long and lovely life, but ultimately what I’ll get to take away from it is an extraordinary experience with an incredible group of actors. When we shot our first episode we could feel that alchemy coming together. When you see the work that everyone around you is doing, you want to match it and hope you are, but you don’t know. I don’t watch dailies. I can’t stand watching myself, so you have to trust your directors, and that if it [a scene] doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t, so you have to figure out how to make it right.”

Jen suits up for a bit of space walk. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios/ABC

Unlike most new shows that film a pilot, which may or may not then be picked up by a network, Defying Gravity shot a 13-episode first season which is airing Sunday nights in the States on ABC. Cox’s previous series, Blood Ties, also had that same distinction, having made 26 episodes that then aired on the Lifetime Network. It is a rare creative situation that the actress is incredibly grateful for.

“This business is so up and down and I’m really fortunate to be able to do 13 episodes of something,” she says. “I’ve done a bunch of pilots and it can be heartbreaking. You grow attached to the people as well as the premise and the story that you want to tell, and then you sit on your butt for 10 months while the network decides whether or not they want to move forward with it. If they decide not to, then it’s back to the drawing board. So this [Defying Gravity] was like winning the lottery. Now that we have the 13 episodes, we’ll just have to wait and see where that takes us.”

Steve Eramo

Defying Gravity is produced by Fox Television Studios and OmniFilm Productions, in association with the BBC, Canada’s CTV and Germany’s ProSieben. As noted above, all photos by Kharen Hill or Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of Fox Studios and ABC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!