Eddie McClintock plays Secret Service Agent Pete Latimer on Syfy’s Warehouse 13. Just before his crossover panel with Eureka, he took a few minutes to sit down with the Daily Dragon and answer a few questions.
Daily Dragon (DD): Your character has had to show a lot of maturity this season with his partner, Myka Bering, being gone. He really had to step up and be the senior partner. What was that like for you to play?
Eddie McClintock (EM): I like that question because you know what’s great about Pete is that the writers have given him multiple dimensions. It seems like in the television business, you’re either Jack Bauer, who has no sense of humor at all, or you’re Joey. You’re either good-looking and stupid and funny or you’re good-looking and serious and not funny. So I think that people don’t know how to characterize a leading man who is also funny. So the fact that the writers are able to write serious beats for Pete is a huge compliment for me that they trust me enough as an actor to be able to do that. And I love the fact that I get to play everything. I get to do everything in the show. I get to go everywhere I get to be everyone I get to act out every part of my personality.
DD: This season Warehouse 13 introduced an openly gay character and Claudia Donovan, played by Allison Scagliotti, was wearing a NOH8 button. How important was it to bring that into the show and have it be represented in a sci-fi show?
EM: First, I know they wanted to de-emphasize the fact that he was gay.
DD: Just like Myka happens to be a woman.
EM: Whatever, yeah. Because isn’t that the point? To try to de-emphasize that and make it not such a big deal. So I think it was natural and normal and I think that it was the way it should be. We want to mirror society in a way that the audience can relate. I think that was the point.
DD: So in a recent episode, we were introduced to Pete’s mom, played by Kate Mulgrew. How was it to work with her?
EM: I did a show a few years back called Crumbs, and Jane Curtain played my mother. And I love Jane and I was pitching Jane. And they said, well, Syfy wants Kate Mulgrew. I didn’t know Kate—like I didn’t know her as a person—so I was kinda like, “What about Jane Curtain?” And then I got to meet Kate and literally within five minutes of meeting her I had told her every secret that I ever had. Like, she’s just so incredibly open and amazing that I just got it. Even though I think Jane Curtain would have been great, Kate just really is Jane Latimer.
DD: Speaking as a fan, I have to say I was relieved to have Myka come back at the beginning of this season. How integral is the Pete/Myka relationship to what makes Warehouse 13 work?
EM: I think that it’s really important. For me what’s great is that the writers don’t try to emphasize the fact that they’re going to be having sex anytime soon. They don’t do that thing where Pete looks longingly at her when her back is turned, or whatever. They’re like brother and sister. They love each other.
