On her own interest sci-fi and fantasy: I would say I was more into fantasy. I wasn't a huge sci-fi fan. I appreciated the genre but I honestly was more of a Little House on the Prairie girl. But I grew up with three brothers and they were, you know, all the big sci-fi shows. And I actually really got into Star Trek: Next Generation and Babylon 5. So I guess I slowly got indoctrinated -- pulled away from the prairie into space.
On what's best about playing sci-fi: As hokey as this sounds, it's just a limitless possibility. It's the fact that you can go anywhere, do anything. You're not bound by even normal human physics. I mean, you can literally do anything and I think that that idea of possibility is what makes it so appealing. But in truth, sci-fi as a genre is really not that different than anything else.
I mean, we're telling the same sort of stories. We just have maybe perhaps a broader palette on which to tell them. But I don't think -- and I think sci-fi as a genre is blown wide open. The demographic is a lot different than it used to be. We're not just exploring space. The genre is much broader than it used to be.
On being first approached for Sanctuary: Damian [Kinder] wrote the script in 2000 as a spec script when he was a writer living in L.A. and he sort of shelved it, and hung onto it, and in January 2006 brought it to Martin [Wood] and I.
He brought it to Martin initially and then said, "I would like to give this to Amanda to look at the part of Helen in it." and Martin said, "Yeah, absolutely." And from there it just sort of like was this massive snowball.
We shot testings in June of 2006, got funding, and in January 2007 shot two hours of Internet material and that premiered in May of 2007. Come July we were starting to get interest from broadcasters and then in May of 2008, started shooting 13 episodes of the series.
And not to hang a lantern on it, but as a woman in this unique position, to work with men that have such integrity and such honor, and such grace has been a real treat because I didn't know how it would be.
On returning to her roots in comedy: I'd love to. I mean, I actually got to do a short film last year called Breakdown and I won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Actress in a Film for it which was kind of fun.
For me it was, "Oh my god, I'm still funny, woo!" Because, you know, you spend your time in sci-fi land for so long and you sort of forget that these other skill sets exist or have they, you know, gotten dusty.
Comedy is sort of my default mechanism and thankfully I work with these incredibly funny people. And Robin Dunne who plays Will Zimmerman on our show is perhaps one of the funniest people I've ever met.
You'd never know by watching him. He's such an earnest, intense character that behind it is this zany, crazy, funny man. So I hope we get a chance to showcase that. Season 3 or 4, you know.
On the challenges of stepping into Helen's shoes: Literally stepping into her shoes because they're stilettos and they're very uncomfortable compared to army boots. It was finding her physicality. After playing a character like Sam Carter for so long where her physicality is so comfortable -- Sam is so comfortable in her own skin and Helen is this very sexual, more mysterious being.
She has a much darker edge to her and it was sort of finding that because Carter always looks on the bright side and Helen has been around so long, and has seen so much of the evil in human society if you will.
And she's also seen the genius and the brilliance. But I mean, at the heart of Helen is this swing of incredible loneliness and so it was finding all of that. It was sort of trying to create this completely legitimate, dark, intense woman after playing somebody like Carter for so long.
It was a huge challenge to find her. And literally also just to find her voice. I wanted to make sure that because she's from Victorian era England it informs so much of who this woman is and how she thinks.
And that era is so specific. And because she was a forward thinker and she pushed the envelope scientifically and emotional and societally, she's informed by that.
And so I wanted her voice to still have that carriage of, you know, the aristocrat and the use of proper English. But she's been around for so long that it couldn't be so high brow.
It still had to be sort of accessible to modern day vernaculars. So finding that, you know, was -- that was a challenge, too. I mean, I walked around for days trying different accents on people -- unwitting, ordering coffee in Starbucks.
On being a working mother herself: Mama guilt is -- I think any working mother goes through the same thing. It's the topic of trying to do what you want to do and being fulfilled and, you know, needing to work and wanting to be home.
The beauty of doing series is that it's a short period of time. You're working really hard, crazy long hours and then you have these breaks. And in these breaks I get to be full on mama. But it is very difficult.
I mean, the beauty of having Olivia when I had her was I went back to work with her. For the first 18 months of her life she was with me everyday at work.
But that's not possible with a three and a half year old. She needs more freedom. But yeah, it's the great debate in my head and in my heart all the time about working.
