Monday afternoon I had the pleasure of taking part in a teleconference Q&A session with Warehouse 13’s [Syfy, Tuesdays, 9/8C] Allison Scagliotti and Eureka’s [Syfy, Fridays, 9/8C] Neil Grayston on the small matter of Syfy’s first ever crossover, in which Eureka’s Douglas Fargo [Grayston] visited Warehouse 13 to upgrade their computers and Claudia Donovan [Scagliotti], in turn, visits Eureka to check out some of the town’s unusual tech and pick up a batch of Fargo’s synthesized purple goo for the warehouse.
Gary Morgenstein [Syfy]: Welcome everyone, thank you for joining us. I want to bring on Neil Grayston from Eureka and Allison Scagliotti from Warehouse 13. Their crossover episodes begin tomorrow night on Warehouse at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific Time and then concludes on Friday on Eureka also at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific Time. Go ahead, guys. Feel free to start asking questions.
Allison Scagliotti: Bring it on!
Neil Grayston: All right!
Tell us a little bit about how this came about and what made the crossover appealing for both of you.
Scagliotti: Neil, do you want to start or shall I?
Grayston: I – say you – you go ahead. Yes, you do the start because you’re the one who introduced yourself to me at Comic-Con.
Scagliotti: That’s true, all right. I believe that the nugget of the crossover idea began when Neil and I met at last year’s Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2009. I watched the Eureka panel moderated by Josh Gates, which was hilarious. Then, at the Syfy party I marched up to Neil and I said, “Neil, let’s be friends.” And he said, “Okay, it sounds good.” We were inseparable from that moment on and we had this immediate dorky chemistry where we were finishing each other’s sentences and, you know, delivering punch lines at the same time. Our…
Grayston: Yes, that was weird that first time when we just made the same joke and we stopped, and we’re like we just made that joke at the same time. And we just made the same movements for that joke, too. That’s weird.
Scagliotti: Yes, we have the same sense of humor. We did on the set, too. And it really, you know, our chemistry played so well in life that I think our respective showrunners and, you know, the good people over at Syfy realized what a commodity it can be to blend these shows. But I think one really believes existing in the same universe and so here we are Claudia and Fargo at the center of this awesome crossover event.
Grayston: One year later.
Scagliotti: Yes.
So, I mean, let me ask you, you know, the two of you, I’m not sure, you know, as far as your characters go, I’m not sure what the original intent was. But both Claudia and Fargo have really sort of grown and become very, you know, not just essential parts of the whole cast puzzle, but, you know, very popular with the fans. So just if the two of you could tell us a little bit about how you feel about the growth of your characters now over the past couple of seasons.
Grayston: Sure. Well, I guess I’ll start on this one. For me it’s just one of those awesome things where I was actually only contracted to be in seven episodes a season. I was really a tertiary character in Eureka. And they just sort of kept on chucking me in to the point where, you know, now I’m all episodes, my character is running Global Dynamics and it’s just – it’s a nice thing to work hard and try to do the best job you can and have that noticed and have them continue to, you know, employ me. It’s awesome.
Scagliotti: And on my side of things, I mean, similarly when I joined the cast in Season 1, I came in late, I showed up in Episode 4. And really by brute force Claudia was an outsider who sort of fought her way in and had to figure out where she fit within this group but has become such an integral part of the family that, you know, she’s sort of everyone’s little sister, little nerdy sister.
And that really mirrors, I feel, my evolution as an actress out and about trying to belong to something, finding her way onto this show and developing such a second family with this, you know, amazing cast and crew. So I’ve been really lucky to play a girl who’s very close to myself.
Hi, Allison. I just wanted to ask has there been any movement on the – this – the quest to get you in the role of Cassie Hack in Hack/Slash?
Scagliotti: Yes, Allison Scag for Cassie.
Well, what’s happening with that?
Scagliotti: What’s happening with it? Well, it’s immensely flattering and I feel like the future is working to my benefit with this. The Allison Scag for Cassie Hack tag began as Sax Carr at Comics on Comics request to cast a fan favorite actress instead of your standard A-list flavor of the month in a role that a lot of people love.
So I have been reading Hack/Slash and now Tim Seeley has asked me to write the introduction to his next Hack/Slash trade paperback. So it’s sort of, via this amazing sort of viral movement, it’s spawning a – me making a major play to play Cassie in the adaptation.
So I can’t really speak to how it’s developing on the professional side. What I can say is that I am working on it and when I get back to LA this week, I’m going to hit the pavement. With the t-shirts that Sax Carr made.
Can you tell us, without going into the spoilers, but can you give us kind of the set up for this crossover within the plots of the show? Like what – why are the two characters going to the other town?
Scagliotti: Yes. Neil, do you want me to start with Warehouse and then you can describe Eureka?
Grayston: Yes, sure.
Scagliotti: So Fargo comes to the Warehouse to update our computer system. Little does he know that much like all of the artifacts, the Warehouse has an organic human element that it’s not as simple to upgrade as just a new plug-in. So the Warehouse fights back because we discover that an important component of the computer system is half of a man’s brain.
So we have Renee Auberjonois from Deep Space Nine guesting as a Warehouse agent whose brain was compromised. And we – Claudia and Fargo connect in the Warehouse and put their heads together to sort of save the day and avoid the (severe) Eureka (gack) out to kill them.
And Neil really – and I got to tell you, I’m going to gush a little bit, I – because I watched the episode twice now. Neil hits it out of the park. I’m so glad that he’s so featured in this episode because he’s really fantastic in it. And I predict that this episode is going to be a fan favorite.
Grayston: Aw.
Scagliotti: And it’s true.
Grayston: Well, thank you.
Scagliotti: You’re my favorite.
Grayston: I’m all scratching my elbow over here. Yes. The Eureka one is basically I guess, you know, Fargo obviously has a little bit of a crush on Claudia and starts – I guess he starts making the purple goo that the Warehouse uses for the artifacts and sort of synthesizes it. Because the Warehouse already has a purple goo making machine, right?
Scagliotti: Yes. There is a (gurie) that pumps the goo throughout the Warehouse, but it has to be manufactured somewhere.
Grayston: Okay, yes. So Fargo decides to start making a version of that in Eureka and invites Claudia over to come pick up a batch and then science happens and mystery happens and Claudia helps save the day and solves some puzzles that are happening and explosions happen and sparks and stuff and it’s a really fun episode.
Scagliotti: Sparks and explosions and more kissing, I might add.
Grayston: Yes, yes, a lot more, ha ha.
So I guess Nolan Gerard Funk should be looking for a new job, is that what we’re saying here?
Scagliotti: No, Nolan continues his (arc) on the show, but he’s got some competition…
Gold: Okay.
Scagliotti: …that I will say.
That’s good to hear. My next question, I just wanted to ask I know you guys and we all just got back from Comic-Con here and I wanted to hear what were your antics? What was the Syfy party like? Did you guys do anything, I guess, unusual or to be noticed at this year’s event?
Scagliotti: Oh my God. I barely remember Comic-Con that’s how slammed it was with responsibilities.
Grayston: Yes, it’s like 48 hours blended into three almost…
Scagliotti: Yes.
Grayston: That’s what it feels like to me, like, it was just sort of got off the train and then all of a sudden I was in a plane going to Vancouver. I don’t know about you guys.
Scagliotti: Yes, it very much felt the same way for me. We got to moderate each other’s panels this year.
Grayston: Which was awesome!
Scagliotti: It was. We sat on the train from…
Grayston: And terrifying.
Scagliotti: …yes, we sat on the train from LA to San Diego together going over our notes, like, feverishly. Not even concerned with how we would sound on our own panels, but it’s a totally different animal to stand up in front of a room full of 2000 people and keep someone else’s panel moving and keep it light, keep it funny and make sure all of the information is covered. But Neil did an amazing job and. Very much like the Warehouse crossover before the Eureka crossover, I got to watch Neil hit it out of the park, which took all of my anxiety away. You’re my crutch, Neil.
Grayston: Oh, all right. Whoo. No, but you did a great job too. I mean, it was awesome. And it was like sort of two different little beasts, but when you walked out and did the thing where it was like what up Comic-Con or something like that and it was all rock starry, it was like, yes, way to go. There you go. You got it in the bag.
Scagliotti: It was fun. It was nerve-wracking but a blast.
So my first question is what – for each of you, what were the challenges of playing the same character yet on a different show and in a different, you know, working environment actually?
Grayston: I didn’t find it to be that difficult myself. I mean, I know the entire cast from Warehouse or, well, most of them. I know the top four. And I knew the director and the second unit director who happens to be the supervising producer as well because they both directed an episode of Eureka, so it was just like going over to my extended family’s house for dinner kind of thing. It was one of the most comfortable sets I’ve ever actually been on, which was radical.
Scagliotti: And we loved having you. Yes, it was very much like packing a bag with all, your character’s attributes in it and bringing it over to, you know, your family on the other side of the country. The shows have unique tones, like Eureka is grounded in science and Warehouse is more sort of the unexplained, the supernatural, but I think it’s plausible that there are, you know, two top secret government institutions in different parts of the country that are, you know, somewhat connected.
Everyone over on Eureka was super supportive of me staying true to Claudia’s sort of snarkiness. So, yes, I’ll go with Neil’s metaphor, visiting relatives on the opposite side – the opposite coast.
Excellent. And as a follow up to that, as far as the way each of your characters, you know, talk and act, was there any deferring to you guys to do that or was that all still pretty heavily scripted?
Scagliotti: Go ahead, Neil.
Grayston: I’m – I mean, I’m sorry, what was – yes, I mean, it was scripted, but we got to just sort of – both of the episodes I think were written so well that it was just that everything felt natural, I suppose. Is that an answer?
Scagliotti: Yes, it is. Yes. We were allowed to play. Like I know on Warehouse we get to adlib a lot and Jack Kenny our showrunner is there to support. And, yes, I mean, I felt very, supported over in Eureka. If I had an idea for something that was more Claudia that was more of a callback to Warehouse, they were all for it. Matt Hastings is very cool like that.
Grayston: I got to say, too, I really enjoy Jack Kenny, the showrunner for Warehouse. Sometimes he would just appear and say like, “Hey guys, I got jokes; who wants some jokes, anyone want some jokes?” And then he would just like have like funny lines for you. We were like, yes, yes, I want your jokes. Totally. I’m your little doggie. I want your joke treats. Yes, that was a really fun thing.
I’ve actually seen a little bit of the episode. I’m actually running a clip on my site. It seems like there are some bugs that kind of come into your lives in the Warehouse. If you both can comment on working on those kind of special effects?
Grayston: Oh, the robot spiders.
Yes.
Grayston: Yes. That was – that – that’s the source of – the only time I saw Saul Rubinek crack up completely during a take and not be able to do one was when one of them is attacking Eddie. And it was actually – when we were filming it it was a green – neon green Styrofoam football that he was holding and it just sort of popped in. One of the crew members just sort of threw it at Eddie in the thing and then Saul completely lost it. It was probably one of the funniest moments I’ve seen.
Scagliotti: Yes, that was the moment when I realized that Eddie is the best schmactor among us. Schmacting is the term that we use when we’re acting with a lot of green screen and reacting to things that aren’t there, so it’s like acting schmacting. Yes, Eddie excels at it because he likes to play pretend.
What did we have to do on Eureka? We had to visualize trees and airplanes that weren’t there and we – basically any time we’re working with a lot of effects, you just have to return to the sort of imagination that, you know, you used as a kid. Suspend your disbelief on elementary levels.
Grayston: Yes, it’s sort of like get your (scared belief on).
Scagliotti: Yes, you did. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, now you’re scared. Now you’re shocked.
Grayston: Yes, or now you’re amazed.
Scagliotti: I like to call it extreme acting.
Grayston: There was also that point where the – in Warehouse where the robot spiders went on the attack and we kind of had the events were mixed up so everything flew at us at the same time, that was kind of fun.
Scagliotti: That’s right, yes. Yes, the cues were messed up and we got a cue for a fire and a net and to run all at once. It was just kind of like – it was like a Laurel and Hardy bit. But I feel every time we hang out it’s kind of like a Laurel and Hardy bit.
Grayson: Yes, pretty much. Something ridiculous always happens. It’s good times.
And also for both of you, have you – during Comic-Con it was a blur for me as well, but did you get a chance to go to Café Diem that was actually reproduced there at the Hard Rock?
Grayston: We did. On the…
Scagliotti: Yes, a couple of times.
Grayston: …the – yeah, the Eureka…
Scagliotti: We got mobbed.
Grayston: …people, we had a little gathering there on the Friday and Scags came along because she’s a Eureka person now, too. Come on, she’s in the show.
I have a question for each of you. First of all, Neil, during the Warehouse episode does Fargo get to geek out with any of the artifacts and does he try to steal any?
Grayston: Well, he tries to play with one. I think it’s Jimi Hendrix’s guitar. But he’s very quickly told to not touch anything, which is a good idea because, you know, Fargo touching things, buttons, everything, bad idea.
Scagliotti: Yes, at one point you do touch the wrong button and get electrocuted.
Grayston: Oh yes, that is true. I forgot about that. Yes, of course. That’s what Fargo does.
And, Allison, you – Claudia has kind of a bad reputation for being accident prone, what with, you know, acts of Claudia not being covered by insurance and all.
Scagliotti: Yes.
Does that carry over onto Eureka at all?
Scagliotti: As a matter of fact I was on my best behavior in Eureka and I sort of lended my sort of energy tracking skills out in the field. When things started to go awry, luckily it was not Claudia’s fault. It was beyond anyone’s control.
Grayston: But you do step on something that you shouldn’t step on.
Scagliotti: Oh, that’s right. There’s that little – oh, field of explosives thing.
Grayston: Yes.
And then I have a follow-up. In addition to your obviously awesome roles now, you’ve both got some good guest shots and I’m wondering if there are any shows either of you would love to guest on and if there’s any chance of the surprisingly cool Wonder Twins making it back to Smallville.
Scagliotti: Oh, Neil, you go while I think of where I want to guess right now.
Grayston: Oh, curses. I was like, oh, there’s a Wonder Twins reference. That’s completely about you. Geez. It’s so hard, I mean, there’s so many good shows on TV right now. I’m a big fan of True Blood, but then obviously there’s like other shows like Community and Modern Family that would be great to do because I love comedy. Wow. Open up that field and there’s a lot. Even Syfy just has so many good shows that I’d be like, yes, sure I’ll go on SGU, that would be awesome. Like I don’t know, just, yes. Name a good show, I want to be on it.
Scagliotti: Yes, there are a lot of good shows. Yes, I’m just starting to watch Mad Men. I would love to do that just to do like a period of piece. But, yes, Community is a favorite. We should go on Community together as like Greendale graduates.
Grayston: Totally.
Oh, that would be awesome!
Scagliotti: Wouldn’t it? Okay, a pitch. Let’s start that Hack/Slash movement now.
Grayston: Yes, there we go.
Scagliotti: I don’t know about the Wonder Twins coming back. They certainly left it open and I would love to do it again. As of yet I have not been approached, but, you know, never say never.
I have a question for each of you. I’ll start off with ladies first, Allison. Can you talk about your experience doing that Destination Truth episode last season?
Scagliotti: With pleasure. I like to say that Destination Truth was like summer camp on steroids because it was so vastly different from doing a scripted show. They are so authentic out there. It’s really roughing it, but I had a blast.
It was five days in Northern Chile in December, it was like 80 degrees outside every day and we were really – we were tripping around abandoned mining towns in the middle of the night looking for ghosts. It was super spooky and super fun. I’d love to go back to Destination Truth and do something possibly involving water, but I don’t want to dig myself a hole too soon.
But Josh Gates is a really funny guy. I actually hope that we get to have him on Warehouse at some point because he’s a…
Grayston: It would be awesome.
Scagliotti: …(comrade heart) I think. Yes, right.
Grayston: Yes. It would be great.
Scagliotti: Neil supports this idea.
Grayston: Right, I would love to meet some Gates, man. He’s a cool guy.
Scagliotti: He is.
Yes. It would be something to have the two of you go in the field with him. That could be a good crossover too.
Grayston: Yes.
Scagliotti: Ooh, even better.
Grayston: Rad.
Scagliotti: Come on, Neil. Go to The North Face, buy some cargo pants, let’s go.
Grayston: Oh right. I think I have some shorts that look like that, so there we go. Safari time.
Scagliotti: Good.
And then a little one – a fun one for you, Neil. Thinking ahead we now have heard that Felicia Day is going to be joining Eureka come the second half of the season, so I’m curious if you’ve started to work the writers to see if maybe there can be a, you know, Fargo, Felicia character hook up.
Grayston: Yes. I see. I don’t really know exactly what her character is coming in to do. I know it has something to do with Wil Wheaton coming back as well. But all I’ve heard is that there’s a possible love triangle in the works. I can only assume it just involves me because, I don’t know, I can only assume.
Scagliotti: Because Fargo is a player.
Grayston: Yes, you know. He’s got all his business suits now, he’s got to do something and look fancy with them. But, no, like thinking of that I actually – I only met Felicia the night of the Syfy party and she’s so nice. She’s a super nice person. We only chatted for about 20 minutes or so but it was like all right, this is going to be fun, you’re going to be on our show and Will Wheaton is going to come on and this is going to be like a nerd heaven kind of thing over here, so I’m very excited for that.
Well, great. And before I go just a little bit of an informal invite would be great to see both of you out East Coast conventions at the Dragon-Con someday too.
Grayston: I’m going to be at Dragon-Con actually.
Awesome.
Scagliotti: Oh, fingers crossed.
Yes, I know…
Scagliotti: I’m not going to be able to make Dragon-Con, but I’m going to do my best to hit up the New York Comic-Con in December.
Grayston: I really want to go do that one too. Some people keep on telling me that it’s awesome, so hopefully the schedule permits. Maybe we’ll see you in in NYC, Scags.
Scagliotti: Come on, bring it.
Grayston: All right.
Allison, I wanted to know what was it like working with Lindsay Wagner?
Scagliotti: Ooh, oh my God. Working with Lindsay was a dream not only because she’s a sci-fi legend but because she’s really a fantastic actress. I felt really lucky. I didn’t have a lot to do with her in her first appearance, but she comes back for the second episode of the show later in the season and what we have together is so meaty. It was kind of an actress’s dream to work with a veteran of the industry, not just a veteran of the genre. She’s a wonderful person and a really incredible actress and I had a lot of fun with her.
Yes, it must have been surreal having the real bionic woman there.
Scagliotti: Really.
And, Neil, how did – how will the crossover episodes help both shows, do you think?
Grayston: Oh, I think it’s – yes, I think maybe for the people who never sort of connected with the other show, I’m going to say, like for our respective things, it might sort of help people to start watching the other one as well. I think just, too, having them in the same universe opens up so many different possibilities for a bunch of awesome fun times. So I’m actually – I’m really excited to – that we, you know, went ahead and blended the universes and now there’s two shows that are definitely in the same universe that can share a lot of things if need be.
Scagliotti: Definitely.
So will this continue or is this just a one-off?
Grayston: So far it’s just been the one-off, but I certainly hope it continues because, yes, I’d love to work with all of the Warehouse people again and I don’t know, Scags, would you enjoy working with the Eurekans again?
Scagliotti: And how. I think the idea is each show wants to steal the other. I – Jack would love to have – all of us would love to have Neil ditch Eureka and come play with us on a regular basis. And (Jamie) has said he wants to steal me from Jack. (But we’re too)…
Grayston: And, yes, (Amy) also said she wants to steal you, I think. I think everyone has said they just want to kidnap you and put you on our show, which that sounds kind of scary, the kidnapping thing, (a little crazy).
Scagliotti: Aw. It does. It’s just a little crazy, but it’s cool. I trust you guys. Yes, I mean, it’s – even if we don’t crossover again, we – we’re to the point where we can be referential to each other’s shows.
Grayston: True.
Scagliotti: Yes. (We get to play off of the family).
Grayston: I actually want to get a Fargo bobblehead on the – in the Warehouse just to keep him somewhere.
Scagliotti: Oh we so have to have, like, a special shot for that.
Grayston: Yes, just like in the background, someone can point it out and be like, hey, look (that’s a nice head). I think that would be rad.
Scagliotti: Oh next year when we shoot Claudia’s room, hello.
Grayston: Sweet. Awesome.
I have a question for you guys. Without a doubt both of you are fan favorites and you’re both – you’ve both mentioned your own and off screen chemistry. Do you guys think the crossover could be a spinoff series in the making for Syfy?
Grayston: That would be so rad.
Scagliotti: Could you imagine? Where would we shoot it? Like…
Grayston: Brazil.
Scagliotti: Because Warehouse shoots in Toronto and Eureka shoots in Vancouver, would we end up in, like, Regina Saskatchewan or like (in California).
Grayston: Oh. Oh, I kind of hope not.
Scagliotti: (I think) it’s somewhere in the middle…
Grayston: I don’t mean to disparage the prairies but yes.
Allison Scagliotti: (We) don’t know.
Grayston: I’d say we just go somewhere completely out, so let’s get – in Europe. Let’s do it in Europe somewhere.
Scagliotti: Yes.
Grayston: In Spain.
That would be awesome. And a question from one of my readers, they wanted to know if we’re going to see any Warehouse 13 artifacts in Eureka and how many Eureka artifacts will we come across in Warehouse 13. Can you comment on that at all?
Scagliotti: Well, I bring some tracking devices over to Eureka when I’m there picking up the purple goo. And that’s another, you know, little Warehouse feature, I guess, the purple goo that we use to protect the artifacts is manufactured there. And then, Neil, you bring some (gack) over to the Warehouse, don’t you?
Grayston: Yes, yes. I’ve got like a little – a couple suitcases of stuff, I think that got, you know, my little – my – the robot eggs I’m going to call them and the laser. But, you know, my little Eureka stuff.
Are there any other sci-fi shows that you’d like to do a crossover with? Maybe like a three-way crossover or something.
Grayston: Ooh.
Scagliotti: Ooh, a three way.
Yes.
Grayston: Oh.
Scagliotti: It seems like Haven probably exists within the same universe. Do you think there’s someone in Haven we need to snag, bag and tag, Neil?
Grayston: Oh, yes, definitely. That’s – it’s – yes, very much. I mean, it seems a bit darker than our shows, but so it’s probably definitely still in the same universe. I mean, of course…
Scagliotti: Yes, but that’s why they need us. They need us to, you know, like, tumble in with our comedy act and like…
Grayston: Yes.
Scagliotti: You know, (lighten) things up a bit.
Grayston: A little bit of wacky.
I think in like – unfortunately I don’t think it would really work, but an SGU crossover would be pretty rad because, you know, we can hang with Mr. Blue and Elyse and everyone. It would be like oh, all right, we know a bunch of people here too.
Scagliotti: That’s right.
(They get to run an) alternate reality.
Scagliotti: (It’s so funny) how we’ve all sort of become friends with each other on all of the different sci-fi shows. So it’s true, we are a little sci-fi commune.
Grayston: Like a nerd gang.
Scagliotti: We are a nerd gang.
Okay, my follow-up on that is you’ve had some great guest stars, you know, announced for the season and such, is there like a dream guest star that each of you would like to appear on an episode of your show?
Grayston: I would totally like Bruce Campbell to be on our show…
Awesome.
Grayston: …in some form or another.
Scagliotti: I want Betty White.
Grayston: Ooh, that’s a good one.
Scagliotti: Because I’m obsessed with Betty White.
My question is – it’s kind of directed towards both of you regarding guest stars on both of your shows. Like, Allison, and – are you a big Firefly fan? And, Neil, what was it like to work with Wil Wheaton? Like did you both kind of like geek out at some point?
Grayston: Yes, do you want to go first, Scags?
Scagliotti: I – sure. You know what, I – (if I do) mention that since I’m more of Artie’s counterpart and that guest stars occur much more with the Pete and Myka characters, I don’t usually get to spend a lot of time with them, so…
(How sad for you).
Scagliotti: …Sean and Jewel from Firefly were great. I’ve never actually seen Firefly, guilty confession, but I did get to geek out over…
Grayston: Ooh.
Scagliotti: I know. I’m sorry. But I did geek out over Renee Auberjonois in 13.1 and I geeked out over Lindsay, working with Lindsay Wagner in episode eleven, which will air in September.
Ah, gotcha. And, Neil, how about you?
Grayston: Yes, well, the thing about Wil is he was like my favorite character in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I used to watch all of the time as a kid because it was just, you know, you identify with him. I was a little boy and he was a young man so he was closest in age to me and I just always thought that (it wasn’t a crush) or was it just rad.
And then meeting Wil, he’s such a nice guy. He’s super down to earth and he’s just really cool, so it was kind of like all right, I really, really enjoy you. And then to know that he’s going to be doing a multi-episodic arc is just fantastic because he’s just a really nice guy. I consider him quite a good friend, so now I’m just going to get to work and hang out with him some more. It’s really fantastic.
What an awesome opportunity you guys have. I totally envy you all.
Grayston: Yeah, It is a really good job.
Scagliotti: I do have a (nerds dream) job. Which is convenient because we’re both nerds.
Grayston: Yes.
Well, my follow-up question is kind of along the real life geeky kind of arena. How geeky are you guys in real life? And like – and there’s been some media attention lately about how young people are more or less kind of getting disinterested in math and science.
How is being the new young face of geek or how does that help young people’s interest in math and science because it’s – it sounds like we’re almost kind of becoming up on like a shortage of engineers and, you know, and girls that are interested in science. Like what do you think you all’s position as actors in these awesome shows, how do you think you all can kind of stir up the spark of interest in young people?
Scagliotti: Neil, do you want to start (that) or shall I?
Grayston: Oh, I for one wish I was as good at math and science as my character is because I’m pretty horrible at it, but I had no idea that people were getting disinterested in it. Because I know so many engineers and, you know, I’m just going to say scientists but that might just be the people that I know or something. But, yes, wow, that’s kind of a drag.
Scagliotti: It is, yes. For me, I’m not at all inclined towards the mathematics or the sciences. I’ve always been an artsy girl. But for me it’s really, really a joy to play a smart female character. Because I’m sure you’re no stranger to the talk that there’s kind of a surplus of your standard giggling wide-eyed girl who flips her blonde hair behind her shoulder and pouts her lips and anyone can kind of do that, but I don’t think there’s anything inspiring about a character like that. It’s not rewarding to play her, and it’s not rewarding to see that sort of exalted on screen.
So getting to play a girl with a specific skill set like Claudia, the payoff – the ultimate payoff for me is when moms reach out to me on Twitter and say that their young daughters are obsessed with Claudia and want to dress up like her for Halloween and, you know, are aspiring to be geeks and have, you know, have special – have these interests that aren’t dictated by what other people at school are telling them is cool.
Or, you know, that they’re not reading magazines that come from a real place, that come from listening to themselves and listening to what they like. So for me it’s very rewarding to play a role model actually.
I’m a fan of both shows, so I’m really looking forward to the crossover. Allison, with the crossover, Claudia’s getting a little more responsibility and you’ve mentioned already you’re working with Lindsay Wagner. It seems like Claudia is also getting field operative training. I’m just wondering with her role expanding this way in the series, how do you approach that and are there any challenges that come from that that you haven’t encountered previously on the show?
Scagliotti: You know, portraying Claudia’s increasing responsibility is really just what you’re seeing is my – me coping with becoming a series regular for the first time and sort of navigating what it means to be, you know, the fourth leg of a table. And supporting something with three other people and needing to be a unique sort of member of a team. I’m really – I’m bringing the truth of what it’s like to be nervous on the job. It’s all the honest Allison nerves that you’re going to see.
Cool. Neil, you’ve mentioned already about Fargo’s being the boss at Global Dynamic and it’s been interesting watching that arc unfold, but I think it’s even more important that it’s in an – in a Eureka where everything is different. I think it was Henry who said something to the effect of everything is different yet strangely the same. Now how does that present challenges for you? And just out of curiosity, how does Fargo find the time to get away from running Global Dynamics to go to Warehouse 13?
Grayston: Yes, that is a good question. I guess he just – he is told to go to Warehouse 13. There are powers above him even at Global Dynamics. But no, the thing [is] it’s really fun. It sort of opened up a lot of things this season being old bumbling Fargo who is now thrust into running GD and trying to pretend to be this sort of power hungry kind of jerkface. And it’s fun sort of playing the public and private Fargos and, you know, the difference between that.
I mean, there’s always little glimmers of when there’s a lot of people around Fargo is one way. But then with the sort of time-traveling six his insecurities come out and his, you know, what is this job stuff, is allowed to come out and it’s been really fun to play that.
And also just play Fargo as a character who actually is semi-competent sometimes. Because I think last season it was getting a little bit away from that and kind of verging into the ridiculous where he was just a completely, like, there was a point where I was like why would anybody do this? Why would he do this? The town is going to blow up and he’s worried about, you know, this small little thing. So it’s really fun to actually have him grow as a character and feel a bit more human this season.
Neil, I was wondering if you think your current incarnation of Fargo might meet the diabolical version that must have existed in the new timeline? Are any plans for that coming up?
Grayston: I don’t know. I think what we’ve done with the time line, I don’t think there’s any sort of alternate us characters. I think we just sort of like replaced them and stepped into their shoes. But I certainly would love to have say a scene where, yes, maybe there’s some video or something like that, some recording of the previous Fargo maybe giving a speech, maybe, you know, chastising some people, but it would be super fun to play jerk face Fargo. So I’m hoping that maybe we get something out of that.
Well, if the timeline is reversed, what direction would you like to see Fargo go in after that?
Grayston: You know, I like him on this track. I like sort of being able to still be kind of goofy and fun, but I also really like him having responsibilities and actually stepping up to the plate and being able to achieve things once in a while.
Scagliotti: And I would like Fargo to start dressing like the hipster that Neil is.
Grayston: I’ll just bring them my closet over to the show.
Well, actually I was…
Scagliotti: Skinny pants and skinny ties for Fargo.
Grayston: Yes, skinny pants with skinny ties, yes. Suits are weird for me. I feel very odd in them. They seem so billowy.
Scagliotti: They are very billowy.
Grayston: Yes, I’m a skinny dude and that’s a lot of fabric for me to be wearing.
Allison, would you ever be interested in playing an evil version of Claudia on Warehouse 13?
Scagliotti: Yes. Oh my God. I – you have no idea how much I want to get my Starbuck on and go rogue in Season 3. I am lobbying for a punk rock episode, and Myka got to parade around in a superhero suit, and I want, you know, leather pants and arm band and rock – I want to rock out on stage.
But yes, I think that we’ve seen Claudia become part of the family and we’ve seen that become jeopardized. We saw her get emotional when she was framed and she got her cute on this season. It’s time. It’s time for Claudia to disobey somebody and sort of go to the dark side for a little while.
Grayston: Have you ever actually worn leather pants?
Scagliotti: No, I’ve not actually worn leather pants, Neil, but I have a feeling that it will be awesome. I will work out a lot before I do it.
Grayston: Oh sweet. No, I was just going to say that they’re really hot. They’re kind of uncomfortable.
Scagliotti: Yes, yes, they are sweaty. Copious amounts of butt soup occur in leather pants.
Grayston: Yes, yes, so, you know, get your talcum powder on.
I wanted to ask you both just kind of what it’s like being a part of the Syfy family. And by family I mean, you know, we talk to a lot of actors from a lot of different shows and different networks and you guys all seem to kind of know each other, at least know the shows and there seems like there’s a dynamic there may be in Syfy that I don’t see in other places. But I wondered if you guys see that and just what it’s like being part of that family.
Scagliotti: Well, I got to say we’re all extremely lucky to work for one of the coolest channels out there. You know, we’ve got people in charge who are committed to making great shows. And I think that that shows in their readiness to make a crossover happen between Warehouse and Eureka by paying attention to the real life chemistry that happened between myself and Neil. So it starts up there at the top with cool people running the show.
And then within our individual shows, we’ve both got amazing people in our respective writers’ rooms, great showrunners. It’s a bit of a love fest, but we’re – I think that’s why our shows have been so successful in their own right is because when everyone likes working together, when everyone enjoys what they’re doing, there is joy that shines through in the content that I think is infectious to the audience.
Grayston: Yes. I couldn’t have said it better.
Okay. Now as my follow-up here, we – we’ve kind of talked about the possibility of future crossovers and crossing over with different shows, but I just wanted to ask the two of you what is your gut feeling? Does this kind of open the floodgates at Syfy for a, you know, a more in-depth crossover between these two shows and I guess crossing into Haven and Sanctuary and the other shows out there?
Grayston: I kind of hope so. I really like the idea of having, you know, it’s almost like making the network a – like a comic book company sort of thing. It’s like, are we DC, are we Marvel or something like that, like, having those everyone exists in a similar universe I think is – there is just so many possibilities and it’s just kind of awesome. You get to work with all of my friends and stuff like that and sort of really make these characters that we have sort of live in a true universe rather than just like its own little bottle.
Scagliotti: That’s a great idea. I just started like brainstorming about how if we had our own little Justice League if we would call it The Nerd Gang and who would be in it. Like it would definitely be you and me.
Grayston: Of course.
Scagliotti: And then David Blue would be in it and probably Colin Ferguson and Saul Rubinek.
Grayston: Yes, absolutely.
Scagliotti: Whatever, all of the (cast) for all the Syfy shows, we’re all in. We’re all in The Nerd Gang.
Grayston: Yes, everyone can come in. Everyone can join.
Scagliotti: Yes, come on in, the water’s fine.
Grayston: We’ll be the leaders though, right. We’ll lead it. You know, just because.
Scagliotti: Yes.
I wanted to ask since Claudia just got that advice from Artie and she’s sort of a romantic newbie with Todd in last week’s episode, I was wondering how is this Fargo/Claudia romance going to happen and what’s going to happen to Todd.
Scagliotti: Okay. So, yes, there’s a love triangle. Claudia’s got a wondering eye in this episode, but you can’t fight the feeling, I mean, when the sparks are there, the sparks are there, you know what I’m saying. So, I mean…
Grayston: (I mean we’re) kind of trapped in the Warehouse.
Scagliotti: We are trapped in the Warehouse, but you’ll see. The end of – at the end of 13.1 Claudia gets a bit of a landslide happening in her world. That’s not the right word. What’s the word that I’m looking for? She’s…
Grayston: I’m totally at a loss for it, but I know what you mean.
Scagliotti: You know what I mean? Like she’s – she – she’s hit by a sort of tidal wave of emotional conflict.
Grayston: Earthquakiness.
Scagliotti: Yes. Which motivates actually Claudia leaving the Warehouse to go to Eureka for a couple days, like she just needs to get away, so you’ll see.
You’ll see what happens when Claudia let’s her taste wander.
Do you guys think that either one of them, your characters, would give up their jobs for love?
Grayston: Hmm.
Scagliotti: Hmm.
Grayston: Hmm.
Scagliotti: I don’t think Claudia would. I think Claudia is too emotionally guarded having spent 12 years trying to bring her brother back from an inter-dimensional space. And I’ve also – I’m speaking like from my own point of view, you got to work while the working is good, you know. At this point Claudia’s real love is tech and being part of a family, so I don’t think we’ll see Claudia making any grand gestures for true love any time soon. Neil.
Grayston: Yes, I think Fargo is probably more – he’s got a bit more of a predilection towards doing something like that. But he’s also, you know, he – that would have to be someone very insanely special who loves Fargo a lot – who Fargo loves more than science – but, and if any of the two characters were to give up their job for love, it would probably be Fargo, I think.
In previous seasons actors from your respective shows have played different parts on the other shows, I was just wondering if there’s any kind of sly double takes or any tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of that in these crossover episodes.
Grayston: There originally…
Scagliotti: No.
Grayston: …was a scene in the Eureka one because there was a – Saul was talking to Colin, was it not, on…
Scagliotti: Yes, that’s right.
Grayston: …or Colin…
Scagliotti: There was supposed to be a Farnsworth scene between the characters Sheriff Carter and Artie, but the episode was running long so it was cut. So there’s actually no mention of it.
But I – we’re – what we’re talking about is actually having an episode in the future where – and this kind of like blows everything in Eureka wide open is that Carl Carlson was actually Artie Neilson and when it looked like he was eaten up by the artifact, he actually just went in there to retrieve it.
Grayston: That would be awesome.
Scagliotti: (But yeah), he didn’t die, he just wound up back in the warehouse.
Grayston: Oh well, that guy pulled a fast one.
Scagliotti: He did.
If each of your characters were let’s say fired from your job and banned from, you know, Global Dynamics or the Warehouse, what do you think they would do if they couldn’t do what they’re doing?
Grayston: I think Fargo would try to get a job at the Warehouse.
Scagliotti: Yes. And Claudia – if Claudia were exiled from the Warehouse, she’d get by just fine. She’d fill her time with something very illegal. She’d probably become a bit of a Lizabet Salander type character like living off the grid, hacking professionally for cash and doing investigations because that’s what she’s good at and she likes digging up information about people.
For Allison first, now that most of the shooting, if not all, is done for this season for you, are there any special memories or episodes or scenes that you’d kind of say you – we should really be looking for?
Scagliotti: Yes, a few. First of all, tomorrow night Neil and I battling robot spiders with light sabers in the Warehouse and then kissing. I mean, that scene really has everything. I’m trying to (be)…
Grayston: Yes.
Scagliotti: …I think it’s really like the ultimate geek out scene. And then…
Grayston: Yes, I think that’s the most epic scene I’ve ever filmed.
Scagliotti: Yes, that was full of epic. And then for me a few episodes down the road — I don’t want to spoil anything and it is kind of full of spoilers — but I have a sort of face-off with another character. It’s very important. It’s a bit of a – actually I call it the Mexican standoff scene because I’ve got a (Tesla) and he’s got a gun.
And then, Neil, a question for you. I’m very curious, you know, on a personal level what it was like, maybe you can share some thoughts on when you found out that you were going to become the head of Global Dynamics.
Grayston: That was a thing where they sort of – I went down in December I guess it was, I went down to LA and I popped into the writers room because I’d never actually been in. And they told me everything like with the time change and all of that and then when they said that I was going to be the head of Global Dynamics I was sort of, like, I did like a pause kind of thing and sort of looked and was like are you serious? And then of course I did a happy dance and was really excited because there’s so many possibilities for that.
And then when I heard that it wasn’t just, you know, reverting, you know, in like one or two episodes, it was actually going to last for a while, it was like all right, this is – I’m getting stuff to do. This is awesome. So I’m very, very excited to do it and having a blast playing this weird version of Fargo who actually can do stuff.
My last question is kind of – it might be a little bit of a doozy for Allison. I don’t know if you can say any of this, but can you shed some light on the mysterious Regents of the Warehouse and the (scene that becomes the) time The Right Eye of Horus.
Scagliotti: Ah, well, I can’t say a lot about the Regents without spoiling what happens to one of them this season. Whew. What I will say is they’re, you know, the great thing about the Regents is they’re not what you would expect. They’re not, you know, a tri – you know, a tribunal around an internal plane. They’re populated by real people. Your standard working people – working class individuals who really should decide what becomes of these artifacts.
In that, you know, and in that sort of mindset all of the power is not given to the government. It’s really – there are a lot of checks and balances involved in the Warehouse so there is – Mrs. Frederick who we thought was the end all, be all superior has superiors of her own and they are – their word is sort of – it’s gospel. It’s the gospel of the Warehouse if you will.
Cool. Well, is there anything more behind the Egyptian symbology that we’ve been seeing, like, peppered in through the show?
Scagliotti: Yes. In fact we have two – our last two episodes involve us discovering Warehouse 2, the lost Egyptian warehouse and it’s very Indiana Jones-esque when Pete and Myka go to Egypt.
Holy cow!
Scagliotti: Yes, I think those are probably…
I’m having a (heart attack over) here.
Scagliotti: Yes, it’s very nice. Yes. I think our last two episodes are the most exciting of the season.