A new interview with Jeri! š
SOURCE: The Deadbolt
Although fan science fiction fans know actress Jeri Ryan from her memorable role as Borg Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager, Ryan steps into the Syfy world of Warehouse 13 on Monday, August 1 at 9pm. In the Warehouse 13 episode called “Queen for a Day,” Ryan portrays Amanda, whose planned fairy tale wedding is derailed when exposure to a Warehouse 13 artifact threatens her life. Interestingly, Jeri Ryan steps into the Warehouse 13 guest shoes of a Marine with close ties to Eddie McClintock’s Pete Lattimer character.
Now that Warehouse 13 is in full season swing on Syfy, Jeri Ryan joins guest stars Rene Auberjonois, Jaime Murray, Sasha Roiz, Faran Tahir, Lindsay Wagner and Ashley Williams.
Ahead of Warehouse 13 and “Queen for a Day,” TheDeadbolt spent a few Syfy moments with Jeri Ryan to get the guest scoop on her character, what she loves about Warehouse 13, balancing comedy with drama, and why Ryan loves TV more than film.
THE DEADBOLT: What was your most memorable moment working on the show?
JERI RYAN: I donāt know that thereās one specific moment, but there were a couple of really, really nice sort of emotional scenes that Eddie [McClintock] and I got to play together. It was just really fun connecting with him. Heās a great actor. Heās a funny, funny guy. But heās also just a really good actor. So that was a lot of fun.
THE DEADBOLT: What would you say is the most important thing that you learned from your time spent on the show?
RYAN: I donāt think I learned anything particularly except how much fun Eddie is. That was my big surprise. But yes, it wasnāt like, a huge educational experience in my acting career. But it was great. It was a fun show to do. I really enjoyed it.
THE DEADBOLT: What can you tell us about the character Amanda?
RYAN: Sheās a Marine. She is Eddieās ex-wife, which is a bit of a surprise to everyone else at the warehouse. And she is getting remarried and things sort of take a bit of a turn, without giving away too much of the story. She sort of needs Eddieās help to get out of a bit of a problem.
THE DEADBOLT: Was there anything you found challenging about the role?
RYAN:Always with comedy in general, and especially comedy that sort of is in the sci-fi genre, youāre really [spinning] this belief. You always have to sort of find that line between playing the comedy, but playing the realism too. Thatās always a bit of a balancing act, but itās fun. The people in the show, theyāre pros and this is what they do. That sort of fine line is where they walk all the time. There is no better training ground for that. I mean, it was a lot of fun.
THE DEADBOLT: What would be your ultimate dream role? Is there someone you still want to work with that you havenāt?
RYAN: Oh, there are tons of people Iād love to work with that I havenāt. I used to say Hamlet was my ultimate dream role, and it still is an amazing role and I would love to play it. But yes, there are so many actors I would love to work with.
Iād love to work with Clint Eastwood, as a director especially. Iād love to work with Sidney Poitier, because heās the reason that I became an actor in the first place. Meryl Streep is everyoneās dream because sheās the greatest living actor of our time. There are a lot of just amazing talents that I would love to work with at some point.
THE DEADBOLT: Youāve done Sci-fi with Star Trek, Dark Skies, and now Warehouse 13. Youāve done horror with Dracula 2000. Youāve obviously done comedy and drama. Are there any genres that you havenāt done yet, or that you would like to do more of?
RYAN:Iād like to do action like Mortal Kombat Legacy. Thatās sort of action fantasy. I think Iāve done all the genres, there are not too many that I havenāt done with the exception of maybe porn, which Iām not really interested in. But I would to do more comedy because itās fun and thatās an escape. Thatās just a very light environment to work. But I like being able to jump around and do all kinds of things.
THE DEADBOLT: Is there a certain part of your character in Warehouse 13 that you can personally relate to, or any of your characters in the Syfy genre that youāve played?
RYAN: Yes. I can certainly relate to part to this character especially because this one is human, a little closer to my own reality than other sci-fi characters Iāve played in the past. There are a few more parallels in life than maybe with 7 of 9. But yes, sheās a smart cookie and she doesnāt take crap and I like that about her. And sheās getting remarried and Iāve been in that situation. There are a few parallels. My dad was in the military so itās nice. My dad was in the Army for 28 years, so I was going through putting on a Marine uniform and heās looking forward to seeing that.
THE DEADBOLT: What do you enjoy filming more television, or films?
RYAN: Personally, I like TV better. The pace is very, very different between TV and films. On TV, sometimes weāve even done eight pages in a day of script. So thatās, six or seven scenes sometimes.
In film, you shoot like two pages a day. So youāre shooting the same scene all day long. That to me is a bit mind-numbing. And I donāt know how they do it. I was working on a movie called Dam of Love and I was sitting on the set between shots with Renee Zellweger and I asked her, āHow do you do this? If you’ve got a big emotional, scene how do you do this?ā And she said, āYou just have to live in it all day.ā You donāt have lunch with the crew, you donāt hang out between shots. You sit in your trailer and you just stay in that emotional place all day because you have to.
I just donāt know how you could get your sanity doing that and go home to your family at the end of the night and not be just insane. That seems like a tough one for me. I like the pace of TV. I like keeping it moving and having a different story to play. But thatās also been what most of my experience is, so thatās more comfortable for me. Thatās my comfort zone.