If Tony Curran is on a guest panel, you can pretty much guarantee that the whole panel will be frantic, frenetic, and wild. The “Familiar Faces: Defiance Cast Q&A” Saturday at 5:30PM in the Westin was absolutely no different. Joining Curran were Jesse Rath, Graham Greene, Trenna Keating, and Stephanie Leonidas. Case in point, as the guests were introduced, Curran stepped out first wielding a lightsaber. As Rath was introduced, Curran pretended to cut off his hand, in true father-son fashion.
The assembled guests represented all of the major races in Defiance, human (Greene), Irathient (Leonidas), Castithan (Curran and Rath), and Indogene (Keating). One question during the panel was whether any of the cast had any influence over the various cultural idiosyncrasies of each race. Curran and Rath said that they came up with the particular way that Castithans shake hands. Leonidas said that she came up with the “head butt” that Irathients give each other in greeting. Keating decided that her character learned how to speak English by watching old movies.
With all of the aliens in the show, one of the natural questions is about how long putting the prosthetics and makeup on takes. Greene quickly responded that it takes him only five minutes in hair and makeup in the morning, which made everyone laugh. Keating said that when they did the camera testing for her, it took five hours to put all of her prosthetics on, which made her panic and wonder exactly what she had gotten herself into. The makeup people talked her off the ledge, and over time they managed to get the whole process down to about two-and-a-half hours. The Castithans take longer than the Irathients because they have to be painted completely white, but the Omecs take the longest since they are painted completely purple.
Speaking of the body paint led to a discussion about being painted for the numerous baths that the Castithans take. Rath said that they paint his whole body except one particular part, to which Greene quickly interjected, “Your nose.” Curran followed up by saying, “Wait, they paint all of me! Which part?” Rath decided to ignore this and went on to say that using the restroom is weird since his hands are painted white. Curran made sure to note that it takes Rath longer to get painted white because of his natural olive complexion, whereas Curran’s pasty Scottish skin is already much closer to Castithan white. Leonidas couldn’t help noting that they can hear Curran coming on to set from awhile away because he is flicking his long wig out of his face and spitting the strands out of his mouth. Keating added that it comes with a lot of cursing and, according to Rath, “a slur of Scottish idioms that we don’t know what they mean.”
Keating was asked whether her character, Doc Yewll, will ever find love. She noted that she might be tough to date and is probably asexual, though if she goes for anyone it would be for a woman. Keating added that Yewll probably has her eye on Amanda (played by Julie Benz). Rath said that he wondered what might happen between Yewll and Stahma (played by Jamie Murray). Keating laughed and said she’s not sure who would get out alive in a relationship between her and Stahma. Curran (who plays Stahma’s husband), mock bitterly said, “Sure, sleep with her. Everyone else has.”
Between all of the anecdotes and behind the scenes stories, the hour went by far too quickly. Before everyone left, Curran asked for everyone to tweet out #RenewDefiance so we can hopefully get a season four. Curran is on Twitter @TonyCurran69. You can also follow Leonidas @stephleonidas, Keating @trennakeating, and Rath @JesseRath.
