Press Teleconference with Tim Kring & Zachary Quinto (Part 1)
NBC held a press conference last week, and our very own moderator wolfbro7 was able to participate!
Here a portion of the questions covered during the phone call. I've tried to group the questions into a few basic categories, and put the more "spoilery" info at the end.
TIM KRING, ON SEASON TWO:
I wanted to kind of clarify something because it’s been brought up a couple of times, this idea of Season 2 versus Season 3, versus Season 1.
The truth is what you were referring as Season 2 was not really our Season 2. It was - it turned out to be Season 2 because of the writers’ strike. It was really, you know, sort of like watching a movie and having the projector break 40 minutes into it.
So what we’re doing now on - for Season 3 was really going to be contained within the body of Season 2. So to the extent of a character like Sylar who spent the first volume of Season 2 without his powers, in the subsequent volumes he would’ve gotten those powers and all of - back and then gone on, you know, a series of adventures.
So I just kind of wanted to clarify that, you know, what people are referring to as Season 2 was not by our design. It was really by the design of the fact that there was a writers’ strike.
Q: to follow up on just what you said there when you talked about it was like the projector broke, so weren’t there some advantages to that long break, too? In other words, you were rushing along like this. All of a sudden you had a huge pause ... Were there any advantages to the long break?
A (TK): Yes, you know, obviously the break was very difficult for so many people. You know, lots of people that - the crew and the cast and writers that all were out of work and unemployed all that time, it was very difficult and also difficult for the audience not to be able to have the remaining half of - literally half - a little more than half of the season truncated that way.
But the silver lining, as you said, was it allowed us a little bit of a break from the creative, you know, day-to-day of the show that had been pretty relentless for two years.
And so, you know, with any creative endeavor you just - you absolutely need some time away to reassess and to think about, you know, what to do next and to sort of assess what you’ve done well, and what you want to improve on.
So absolutely, I agree with that.
Q: You mentioned a little about Season 2 ... about what was lost due to the writers’ strike - (I would like to know) if the virus storyline will come back and ... what happened to Caitlin.
A:Well, the virus story was really the casualty of the strike and I think a lot of people have already heard this story. We re-jiggered literally the last couple minutes of that volume when we knew the strike was imminent and changed the ending so that that virus never broke out.
The second volume of Season 2 was going to be an outbreak story that would last eight episodes and it was all avoided by Peter Petrelli catching this (vial) of a virus and so it did not break; and therefore, did not get out into the community.
And so, you know, three episodes into that volume we would have found out what happened to Caitlin, and as a result of the writers’ strike that has been sort of a lost part of the mythology of the show that may never return.
Q: the show was so embraced by critics and fans in the first season. Do you think it was judged too harshly in the Season 2, and is that something that you worry about moving on?
Are you always going to be held to a higher standard just because it was such a hit critically and with fans early?
A:Yeah, I think we - you know, that is always the nature of something that hits in a big way, in a very zeitgeist kind of way. It’s very hard to be shiny and new all the time.
And so of course that’s something that, you know, that always concerns us but there’s not a whole lot we can do. We just make the story that we make.
And as for how the season was judged, I think, you know, the fans that really stuck with the show saw what ended up being, you know, the second - especially the second half of that volume, you know, finally came together in the way that the first season did.
In the first season, we took about eight or nine episodes before the characters even crossed paths with one another. And if you stuck with it, you were rewarded to see where that story went.
In the second season, as I said, there were 13 episodes that will never be seen. And so I think it was obviously very hard to judge it as a whole without literally over half of it never being seen. So, you know, that’s kind of all I can say about it.
HEROES, GENERAL:
Q: This is a question for Tim. I was at Comicon and watching Heroes fans watch the premiere was almost like watching a spectator sport. I’m wondering that - since there are so many ways to get feedback from fans these days, I’m wondering how much you pay attention to what fans are saying and if it ever affects what you do on the show?
A (TK):Well I would love to be able to say yes it does affect us. But the truth is - well let me give you an example, the truth is that when we premiere on September 22, we will be I think just starting to shoot Episode 13 of the - which is the finale of the volume.
So to the extent that we could have any input from the audience after people have seen that, I think we would be - we’re so far ahead that there really is nothing that we can do about it.
So, you know, unfortunately the audience is very, very far behind where we are creatively on the show. So there’s not much we can do about it.
(ZQ): And that’s kind of a double edged sword, I think, in a lot of ways, you know, because we are creating in a vacuum and so we are relying on each other and relying on our instincts creatively as actors, as well as writers.
And I know from myself and my castmates being at Comicon and sharing that experience for the first time with this volume and, you know, 6500 people or however many people were in that hall was incredibly exhilarating to be a part of their response to it and to be a part of their reaction, because we all do really value that aspect of it, too - because we know that that’s why we do what we do, you know, because people are responding as adamantly as those fans did.
(TK):And you know, it’s - the interesting thing is, is that we come at the show internally as the writers and producers of the show, and the actors of the show as real fans of this particular genre and real fans of this show.
And so we have to use the - our own sort of internal, you know, critics to let us know where we’re going. And we very often have made course changes, you know, midway through when we’ve looked at episodes internally and tried to feel what the audience would feel.
And have said you know what, I think we need to go this direction now. We’ve used this device too many times. Let’s start doing this. And so we very much are our own fan base while we’re making the show.
Q: Hey Tim. I wanted to ask you about any major changes you’ll be making to the storytelling, maybe to help viewers follow the story. I mean, are you going to feature any characters more prominently than others?
A (TK):Well, this season we are not really introducing any new characters that have their own storylines. So we are concentrating very much on the core characters that we’ve had for, you know, two seasons now.
But no, in - we have a certain style of storytelling that really is a kind of pastiche of storytelling where there are multiple characters and multiple stories going on at the same time.
The difference in this volume, Villains, is they are all feeding one big, giant story. So no, we’re not really planning anybody anymore than anybody else, I don’t think.
The audience may feel that way at times, but I think in the aggregate when they see it put together certain episodes may lean a little more heavily on one character or another. But by the end I think it’ll kind of balance out.
(ZQ): I’ll add onto that by just saying I think our show does a remarkable job of tracking all the characters and then sort of bringing them back around to one another, and dovetailing the stories into each other.
And, you know, for a cast as large as ours, I think all of my fellow actors would agree that each of us get a significant amount in all the episodes that we’re in to chew on - you know, that there’s never a feeling that one storyline is suffering in favor of another.
(TK): All right, let me just sort of add to that. There’s something that I sort of refer to as haiku storytelling. It’s this idea of being able to - or the classic Name That Tune - I can name that tune in three story beats. So I can name that tune in four story beats.
In other words, you take a story that would normally take ten beats to tell it and you try to find a way to tell it in five. And so it makes for a very exciting kind of storytelling where every scene is sort of - is very complete and very full.
ON SYLAR:
Q: When you signed on as Sylar, did you have any way of knowing how big this character would turn out to be, how the viewers would just love and hate him as much as - the way they do?
A (ZQ):Absolutely not. I don’t think there’s any way to sort of predict the way that things - as powerful as this show has been for all of us involved and then for our audience.
When you get involved in it, it’s something that sort of takes you by storm a little bit. And this is obviously the biggest example in my experience of that happening.
But yeah, there’s really no way to predict it. And obviously I’m most grateful that it did, but had no way of telling when I signed on.
Q: I enjoy the understated efforts you put into Sylar as far as your theater training. You come at his character very quietly with a lot of menace. And I wonder if you could talk about your theater training and how it’s helped you with this role, and other roles?
A (ZQ):Well actually I’m really grateful to come from a theater background because it’s sort of solidified my relationship to the work from a different - a little bit of a different perspective than you see in Los Angeles sometimes.
You know, I mean, there are a lot of actors and sort of more and more actors I think that come from a theater background. So many of my friends actually working in Los Angeles now got those jobs that are - that brought them to LA in New York, you know.
So for me personally, I feel like my training has sort of - allows me to look at things from more than one perspective. It allows me to have a little bit more of an oversight and understand where a character lives in my body and understand where a character lives in my voice.
And then you sort of modify those understandings to fit the format that you’re working in. I remember when I was in school that teachers would, you know, always sort of constantly argue about whether there was a different technique applied to television and film than is applied to theater.
And I think there definitely is, you know, and I think that coming from a theater background allows me to sort of bring things down. Like rather than going from a small/medium to a large venue, it’s much easier if you can fill a 700-seat theater.
It’s much easier to fill a 34-inch proscenium or whatever the, you know, the size of the screen is that you’re working on. So for me that training gave me a really great basis from which to work and I continue to learn about the technique and the tools that are necessary to work in television and film.
And it’s - you know, I feel really fortunate to continue to have the experiences that teach me those new lessons, you know.
Q: What was sort of your intention for this character coming into Season 3 and are you satisfied with the scripts you’ve seen to this point?
A (ZQ): I think that the scripts this season are just, you know, more exciting and more action-packed, and more dynamic than ever. I mean, I think it just keeps getting better and more - you know, every time I open a script it’s truly a thrill.
I mean, in terms of my - my approach is always the same in whatever I’m working on, is to serve the text, you know. And I think we’re really fortunate to work with incredibly creative, imaginative, consistent writers that bring, you know, surprise.
I can’t - sometimes when I opened the script in Season 3, it’s difficult to keep track of exactly where I’m going because there’s so many different aspects of this character’s experience this year that are drawn upon.
So my approach really is just to sort of serve that and to keep track of it at the same time. But I think people will see what I mean as the season unfolds.
Q: Mr. Kring, at what point - because when Heroes started, everybody was a protagonist. At what point did you realize that you needed a continuing antagonist like Sylar and that it would be a good idea for Sylar to carry through instead of having an arc and disappear?
A (TK):Well Sylar was always designed to stay as - you know, to stay around. And we knew that you really can’t have heroes without villains and so I think it was kind of built into the premise.
Also what was built into the premise is this idea that these are ordinary people so to the extent that they have - that they make decisions that are based on who they are and what circumstances they are or find themselves in, that determines whether they will be good or evil.
If you are predisposed to be good and you have a superpower, then you’ll use it for something good. If you’re predisposed to be bad, then you may - you know, then you will use it for something evil.
And so it was kind of always built into the premise that there would be - that our core group of people would be tempted by the circumstances they were in.
Q: We got some of Sylar’s background as Gabriel Grey. How much more of his past would you be interested in learning about and how much darker/more evil would you like to see Sylar get?
A (ZQ): Well I’d certainly be interested in learning as much about his background as the writers see fit. I mean, we do go there again this year. At a certain point you’ll sort of revisit that character and the shades of that character as you first saw him.
As far as how evil I’d want him to get, you know, I feel like Sylar’s evil is rooted in a great humanity and in a lot of smallness, and a feeling of sort of emptiness.
And so I don’t really look at it again as like how evil could he possibly get. I sort of look at it as like, what he has in front of him and the choices that he makes in order to seize his opportunities or to feel - you know, he’s constantly, constantly wrestling with the desire to feel special, the desire to feel valid, the desire to feel viable.
So I feel like those are the ways that I come at it more than the level of evil that he achieves because those are really just means to an end.
(TK): You know, let me just sort of add that, you know, Zach has really provided us with - you can’t do a character that’s as sort of deep and complex as Sylar without having the actor who can play those colors and that depth.
And Zach has really sort of provided us with the - you know, with the ability to explore this character in really, really deep ways. And I see Sylar as someone who is on a very deep, existential quest to find out the meaning of his own existence and where he came from, and what is driving him.
And we will continue to peel the layers off of that onion as long as this character exists on the show.
Q: The audience is clearly meant to identify with Sylar even though he’s clearly a villain. So are you going to continue to make him even more sympathetic? I mean, is he going to get friends or maybe even go so far as a love interest?
A (TK): You know, this - to be really honest, that is sort of a quest with this character, is to continue to play off of the duality of good and evil which I think has been at the core of a lot of characters in the show and will certainly become more and more thematic in the show this - in this volume, Villains, where so many of our characters will be faced with these choices of who are they really and what is their basic nature.
And so yeah, we are going in places this particular volume with Sylar that will, I think, cause the audience to, you know, to be really torn as to how they feel about this guy.
They know he is capable of tremendous evil and yet he has a kind of depth of pathos that, you know, makes you question your own, you know, your own sense of what’s right and wrong.
Q: So he will expand his relationships then?
A (TK): Oh absolutely. Yes, absolutely. He has a - he’ll have a series of very human relationships in this volume alone.
SPOILERS:
Q: I’m wondering how deep in the season will we get an understanding of how Linderman’s back from the dead and why Niki is called Tracy, and what did Sylar do with Claire’s brain when he was fishing around in there?
A (TK): You know, some of those questions will linger a little bit but I think - actually, you know, by the end of the third hour of the show you have kind of most of those.
I mean, the - one of the goals of this season was because we were - have been off the air for - will have been off the air for nine months, we didn’t want to drag a lot of story behind us.
We didn’t want to feel like you had to have watched two years of this show to catch up. So we wanted to answer things really quickly so that you could move forward on this volume and have a kind of clean path in front of you.
So there really are not a lot of lingering questions that you carry with you from before. So, you know, the questions - the goal for us from now on with these volumes is to try and answer - you know, literally 95% of the questions that are posed in the beginning of the volume will be answered by the end of the volume.
This particular volume, Villains, is 13 episodes long.
Q: Just to follow-up quickly, Tim, ... is there 13 episodes for the first (story) of this year and then 12 for this next one?
A (TK): Yes. So the first volume is 13 and the second is 12.
Q: Do you see any danger in losing a “normal” viewpoint by giving Dr. Suresh superpowers? Do you - are you in danger of losing that humanity?
A (TK): You know, I would say yes and no. And it’s one of the great challenges of doing a serialized story, is to try to keep the audience guessing and to keep things fresh. So just - you know, what we’ve always sort of prided ourselves on is the ability to have the audience not be able to predict where we’re going.
And so hopefully with Sylar, just when you think that you have figured out what his role for the rest of the series, he’ll change again and, you know, will reinvent where that character is.
But yeah, somebody needs to be able to play the role of the outsider on this show and so I would just sort of say stay tuned to see who that is.
Q: No hints? Just a hint, come on?
A (TK): Yeah, but it will be someone you know already.
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