From Heather M. of TV Goodness:
Link: Introducing Jaeden Noel, the Killjoys kid
“I started doing commercials and TV and [realized] I could pursue this as a career. My parents said if I liked it I could continue, and now it’s my life. I love it so much.†Continue reading.
Shaun Benson may play a memorable, villainous character in this week’s episode of Killjoys, but he’s anything but in person.
On Killjoys he plays, well, I don’t want to give it away. But suffice it to say that Benson’s gig—which finds him decked out in black and sporting a blonde hair reminiscent of a certain movie villain—is truly memorable. And this from a series that dropped a rapidly aging baby in our laps last Friday.
We spoke to Benson during a break in filming “Baby, Face Killer,” earlier this year and learned a bit about his character and a lot about acting.
What can you reveal about this character?
Shaun Benson: He’s a protector. So that gives him a real coldness, almost like a snake because he’s sort of like from an evolutionary line of protectors.
The last character you played that I saw was Lane on Saving Hope. Not a great guy.
SB: The transition from good guy to guy who does something wrong, for me, is a very small leap. And I think for some people, and I don’t know if they haven’t danced with the dark side as much as I have, truly, or if they’re not willing to go there, even if they have, for me it’s a paper-thin distance between me being a good person and me being a bad person. So if you put a camera on me, and again, I haven’t been a gangster or murdered people, but I spent years like delving into the darkness, and it makes it tougher to book the lead in a Hallmark movie. Because you put a camera on me and a girl says to me, ‘Hey, you look good, and I look back and I go, you look good too, it’s very loaded.’
Greg Bryk told me that those types of roles means he explores that dark side in a safe way.
SB:Â What’s very interesting is that when I was in my 20s I played a lot of really good guys, the lead, handsome, whatever. My face was very soft and unwrinkled, I still had some baby fat. And honestly, the roles were pretty uninteresting, not bad, and a great privilege to be able to play them, but it was always like he’s the good guy and he’s trying to solve the case or whatever. But at the time I was really busting at the seams as a young man, out partying and not being too forthright or standup. Then, in my early 30s, I just said ‘I don’t want to be that guy.’ So I can’t remember the last time I consciously told a lie. Like, people know who I am, but now I play the mean guy all the time when I’m the least, you know, that I’ve ever been in my life.
So I get what Greg’s saying because there’s a safety to it so that you can go all the way with it because it’s actually not what’s happening. You know, I can go home … and by the way, it takes its toll. I did a movie of the week for Lifetime and it was keeping women locked in a basement, and it’s all fun and I’m playing it and the director and I talked about it along the way. We talked about this like it’s a bit of a dance.
That’s been my background as an actor. When I was younger I started dancing. So how do we put the joy in the body? And Jack Nicholson even talked about it, for The Shining. Like, he treated that like a ballet and I really understand what he’s talking about. Because, if it’s about the movements in my body, then it elevates the sense of, not only art but spirit and joy, even if it’s a tragedy.
Killjoys airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.
Image courtesy of Bell Media.
From Kelly Townsend of The TV Junkies:
Link: Killjoys: Adam Barken talks “Greening Pains”
“I think Luke has been a standout–amongst standouts–this whole season so far, because he’s had to play the quieter, internalized anxiety, anger and fortitude of a leader whose partners are either missing in action–Dutch–or batshit crazy–Hullen Johnny (Aaron Ashmore).” Continue reading.
In a universe filled with unique characters, Killjoys’ most recent may very well be the most. The spawn of Delle Seyah and D’avin Jaqobis, viewers first meet him moments after he’s born. But by the end of Friday’s newest episode, “Greening Pains,” he’s grown into a young man.
That young man is played by Jaeden Noel. He’s appeared on such shows as The Expanse, Rogue, Murdoch Mysteries and Odd Squad; now Jaeden Noel checks in as the newest member of the cast. We sat down with him during a break in filming part of “Greening Pains” earlier this year.
What can you say about your character?
Jaeden Noel: He is new to the world. And he grows really, really fast. He’s actually only currently two years old, but he looks like me and I’m 15. It’s an interesting storyline. He’s very new, so he walks through the world trying to learn everything, and he’s like a sponge, he absorbs everything. He’s very attentive and he listens a lot. But he’s also very curious. He follows Dutch around and almost praises her because she’s like the coolest character ever, right?
What’s the relationship between he and D’avin like at this point?
JN: I think it’s very awkward for him. He can’t talk to me like I’m a teenager, but he also can’t talk to me like I’m a baby. But I feel like he does still have that fatherly instinct to protect his son. So that will definitely be there.
Had you seen Killjoys before you got the role? Did you go back and watch episodes?
JN: I got cast for it. I had heard of it, obviously, but I got cast for it and I was like, ‘I should probably brush up on some of this so I know what I’m doing.’ So I watched some of Season 3, I had seen some of Hannah and Luke, they’re great actors, it’s been great working with them. Stefan [Pleszczynski], the director, everyone here is super nice. I find them always making sure I’m OK, asking how my day went, how was my weekend?
As an actor, having the costume and being in this scene, it becomes a little bit easier because you’re able to put yourself into that mindset when you’re surrounded by everything like this, right?
JN: Plus I find this kind of genre of television very interesting. So it’s easy for me to like almost get in and become the character.
How do you juggle school? Because you need to get some schooling in there while you’re working too.Â
JN: We have school here. We have an on-set tutor. But also I’m not really bad at school, besides maybe math, but I mean a lot of people aren’t the greatest at math. But I also go to an arts school. And they’re very lenient with things like this. It’s almost like one of the reasons why I go there. It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m filming.’ The teachers are like, ‘OK, just I’ll give you your homework, just have fun, do whatever.’ Whereas other schools, I think it would be more of like a … I’d have to sit down and explain it to the principal.
What have you learned from working with Hannah, Luke and the rest of the cast?
JN: They are incredible actors. I’m sitting there picking their brains, trying to learn everything, what they’ve done, looked at old stuff and watching them while they act, watching their scenes. Because the only thing I can do from them is learn. So I might as well, if I’m going to be on the set with them and be working with these people, I should be learning from them.
Killjoys airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.
From Heather M. of TV Goodness:
Link: Adam Barken talks family in Killjoys Season 4
“The journey in greenspace is kind of over by Episode 3 but it has reverberations all the way through. The journey of the show [this season] is, ‘How do we get back and how do we fix what’s broken and the things we made mistakes with?’†Continue reading.Â
