Warning: Some spoilers ahead

In only 2 days, Syfy will be kicking off what I anticipate being one of the best new series of the year. Inspired by the classic blockbuster film, which commemorates its 20th anniversary next year, 12 Monkeys tells the provocative story of a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.

The series stars Aaron Stanford as time-traveler James Coles and Amanda Schull as Cassandra Railly, a doctor with the CDC who turns out to be key in helping Cole track down the people in present day who are responsible for starting the plague. I was fortunate enough to participate in a press conference call with both Stanford and Schull last week where they talked about the show, how it differs from the original movie, and of course, that all-important chemistry between their two characters.

Even though it has been almost 20 years since the Bruce Willis classic was released, people are wondering how the new Syfy series will compare to the film. Will the basic storyline be the same? What about the characters? Will there be new characters, and will the existing ones differ in any way?

AARON STANFORD: “Well, I’m a huge fan of the original movie and I was excited to get involved in the project for that reason. I think what I like about it is it’s a chance to expand and explore the universe of 12 Monkeys on a much larger scale. It’s a great chance to turn it into a much more epic story. ”

“The film 12 Monkeys was based on a short film called La Jetée by a filmmaker named Chris Marker in 1962. And it was basically the same plotline but it was a very different execution. It was a small bite sized chunk, and then 12 Monkeys took that and they expanded it and made it their own and now what we’ve done is the same thing. 12 Monkeys is the inspiration, and it’s the source material and we took that and we turned it into something different and much more expansive.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “Also, you don’t need to be just a fan of the film or just a fan of the series. I think you can be both because of what Aaron said, that we expanded but also our characters are different from the film, and the storylines are different from the film. It’s got the same sort of original kernel but it’s own entity. ”

“You know we have this luxury of researching episodes. We’re not constrained by time. So, we have a lot of different characters that are introduced and with guest stars and storylines that I think will be interesting for people who loves the movie and people who aren’t familiar with the movie.”

For those familiar with the movie, you may recall that one of the key elements was the fact that time was considered immutable. That is, you can’t change anything significantly by going back in time. However, as we will see in the pilot of the series, this seems to be the complete opposite of what Cole is trying to do. In fact, his entire mission is to go back and stop the plague before it even starts. So, I asked Stanford about that and whether this was going to be a difference from the film.

AARON STANFORD: “I think I’m allowed to say that your observation is 100 percent correct. In the film, the understanding was that time was fixed. There was absolutely no way that they could change it, and Cole’s mission was only to go back and observe and bring back information. And that holds with the current theory of time travel that comes from Einstein’s theory of relativity that you can travel through time but you cannot change it. So, for the series, I think that in order to tell the kind of story they wanted to tell, they needed there to be the possibility of change. So they went a different route and do allow things to be altered and changed and that’s quantum theory. So, the movie goes with relative theory, and the TV goes with the quantum theory.”

Another key element from the film was the ever-so-apparent chemistry that existed between its two stars, Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe. This is one of the big things the writers wanted to retain from the movie, and as it turned out, played a major role in the casting process for the Cole and Dr. Railly lead roles.

AARON STANFORD: “Well, Amanda, you were cast first. So, why don’t you take the lead.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “I don’t even know if that’s an accurate statement though because I would say I got the script before Aaron, and I did go into the hopper before Aaron did, but I think it wasn’t until Aaron and I had a chemistry read together that they finalized the casting. I’d say that was really when it was all filled up.”

AARON STANFORD: “You know it was a confusing casting process, and that’s usually how casting processes are.They can be sort of a mess. Because you’re looking for something very specific and you’re looking for oftentimes a very important chemistry between two characters, so they don’t necessarily want to nail one person down until they’re sure the other person’s going to be, and they’re sure if those people are going to have that sort of intangible ephemeral thing between them that spark. ”

“So, yes, I can tell you the final round for me was coming in and reading with Amanda and it was a great experience. They really put us through it, there was a lot of improv and she came 100 percent prepared and ready and it was extraordinarily helpful. And, we make something happen in the room, and I think that’s how I got the part.”

Besides Stanford and Schull, one of the other stars of the series is Barbara Sukowa, who plays Dr. Jones, a physicist who recruits Cole to be the one who goes back in time. There are so many action sequences in this series — several, in fact, in each episode alone — and as it turns out, the scenes with Sukowa are some of Stanford’s favorites.

AARON STANFORD: “[Sukowa] has been around for a long time and has a pretty amazing resume and body of work. But one thing that she had never done ever was an action scene. She’d never been involved in an action [sequence], she’d never heard a gun fire, she’d never fired a gun, none of that. So, basically any action sequence where she was in the scene was my favorite because I could watch her react to these things. She was so blown away by everything in sight. That was a lot of fun for me. ”

Another star of the series is Tom Noonan, who plays a mysterious villain and who may have ties to the people who released the virus that started the outbreak. We don’t see this character until episode 2, but trust me, you’ll known him when you see him because he will totally creep you out. Stanford and Schull were asked about Noonan, and I actually got tickled at their responses and the entire exchange. We will all see that there is a definite chemistry between the 2 on-screen, but the amazing thing is that the same chemistry seems to carry over off-screen as well.

AARON STANFORD: “Wow, what can one say about that? I mean he absolutely inhabited the character. He plays a very, very frightening and imposing character and pretty much the entire time he was on set he had the entire cast and crew terrified of him.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “That’s not true. He’s a softie. ”

AARON STANFORD: “I was terrified. He’s an imposing guy. I mean, yes, every once in a while he drops character, but he’s really a consummate method actor.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “Well you know I think I had a unique experience with him because we definitely had a few nights where for whatever reason Tom and I had downtime together while you were working. There was one Friday that was bled into a Saturday morning that Tom and I sat in our chairs until 7 o’clock in the morning and I just listened to Tom tell old acting war stories and just his life stories, just has me riveted.”

“And then we’d go out and we do 30 seconds of the scene, and then we come back and he go, ‘So, where was I?’ And we pick up exactly where he had left off.”

AARON STANFORD: “Man, I’m sorry I missed that. ”

AMANDA SCHULL: “I just have such a soft spot for Tom. I adore that man.”

AARON STANFORD: “Tom Noonan is terrifying and lovable.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “Tom Noonan is a giant softie.”

AARON STANFORD: “Soft serve ice cream in a steel shell.”

AMANDA SCHULL: “In a steeley cone.”

Now, how cool is that! Just wait until the series premiere on Friday. Their chemistry on-screen is 10 times more than this. Just utterly amazing.

The last question is just a fun one. 12 Monkeys is about time travel, and so, we thought a very cool question would be if either of them had a time device and could go anywhere they wanted, where would they go?

AMANDA SCHULL: “I think I would want to go explore kind of a monumental moment in history, but maybe I would just like to go and hide probably, hide out, but witness dinosaurs, sort of roaming the earth. I think that would be fascinating. ”

AARON STANFORD: “I mean the difficulty is this is that you know all these periods throughout history are fascinating, but the question is, would you really want to go there? I mean do you really want to give up hot showers? You want to give up indoor plumbing, you want to give up all your conveniences? So, I think if I could go anywhere in time I would go to a fictional future where they had created a hollow deck, like on Star Trek, and then you could visit any place you want throughout history with all of the modern conveniences. ”

AMANDA SCHULL: “Aaron, you’re so fancy with your answer. ”

AARON STANFORD: “It’s the ultimate answer.”

And, just a few other interesting tidbits from the interview:

• They have finished filming all of season 1. In fact, production just finished about a month ago.
• We know that Stanford had appeared in Nikita but Schull actually did too. However, none of her scenes were with Aaron, and all of them were with Maggie Q.
• Amanda said that Aaron cracked her up the day before shooting was slated to begin, because he brought over a dozen books on time travel with him and thought he would somehow be able to magically read them all the night before.

12 Monkeys premieres this Friday at 9/8c on Syfy.

 

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