Posted in: SYFY, TV | Tagged: revival

Revival: David James Elliot on SYFY Series Adapt, Scrofano/Ogg & More

Revival star David James Elliot spoke with us about joining the SYFY series, working with Melanie Scrofano and Steven Ogg, and much more.

David James Elliot has an on-screen career spanning nearly 40 years since his debut in 1986, appearing in multiple projects, from the biopics The Boy in Blue and The Climb, Canadian drama series The Campbells, and the screwball comedy sequel Police Academy 3: Back in Training. He has been one of the busiest TV actors with signature roles on The Untouchables, JAG, Close to Home, Mad Men, Secrets and Lies, Impulse, and Spinning Out. With his most recent run on the STARZ wrestling drama Heels, Elliot's latest venture is a genre he has surprisingly yet tackled in science fiction in the SYFY series Revival from creators Luke Boyce and Aaron B. Koontz, based on the Image Comics by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton.

Revival follows a rural Wisconsin town where the recently deceased suddenly rise from their graves and act just like they once were. When local officer and single mother Dana Cypress (Melanie Scrofano) is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she's left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect. Elliot, who plays their father and town sheriff Wayne Cypress, spoke to Bleeding Cool about growing up a sci-fi fan despite never working in the genre before, working with Boyce and Koontz, the Cypress family dynamic with TV daughters played by Scrofano and Romy Weltman (Martha "Em" Cypress), and reuniting with Heels co-star Steven Ogg, who plays the mysterious Blaine Abel.

Revival Star David James Elliot on Finally Bursting into Sci-Fi

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Revival', and were you familiar with the original comics?

I read the script, thought it was terrific, and I haven't done much sci-fi, though. Certainly, as a kid, I read a lot of sci-fi. I was a William Gibson fan and a comic book guy as a kid. I thought it was a terrific story. It was well written, and I loved the way the character [of Wayne] was laid out, so that excited me and made me want to be a part of it.

How does a series like 'Revival' differ from some of the genre work you worked on?

I haven't really worked on much genre stuff. I guess you could say, "Anything is a genre," but in this specific genre, I've never done anything, certainly, no zombie tales. I've seen zombie movies, and I'm not a zombie zealot, but this is a different handling of the zombie thing, which I think we've beaten to death on the other path, so this is a great new take. It's a neat story, and Aaron and Luke handled it very well; working with them was a terrific experience. I know that (comic creators) Mike (Norton) and Tim (Seeley) worked closely with our two creators, and so they were 100% behind it and visited the set. That was fun to have them there and to meet them.

What are Aaron and Luke like as creatives?

They may be the best experience I've had working with executive producers. They were easy to be around, always had great, smart answers. If you had suggestions, queries, or you felt uncomfortable about something, they were more than eager to work with you to find a solution. They were easy to work with, not to mention fun, great guys. I loved going to work every day, and the other players, certainly, Melanie, Romy, Andy, and Steven, were terrific, also. It was a great creative experience. I can't say enough about how easy it was to be a part of this, and it's not always that way.

How did you build the Cypress family dynamic with Melanie and Romy's characters?

We met, I got up there probably a week and a half early. We had a lot of story meetings, and the actors came together with the producers in a room. We sat in there for a few hours on multiple days. We got to know each other that way, and we talked about our characters, stories, and how it lays out. That went miles towards creating chemistry with these people; everyone was very enthusiastic and excited to be a part of it. It was fun, and we were all in from out of town, so we didn't have a lot of external murmur, so we were able to concentrate on the work fully, 100 percent.

Since you're new in the genre, what was the most difficult aspect of production for you to get through?

The most difficult thing…it wasn't difficult as far as "playing the scenes," because they were fairly natural. I got really sick (one day), Melanie came in with some horrible disease at one point in the shooting, and passed it to me. It only knocked her back for a week; it almost killed me, so I had to go on antibiotics. I was dead, lost my voice, it was brutal. After almost two weeks, I was like "I can't…this may kill me." I didn't even know what it was, but it was bad, it wasn't Covid, as far as I know. It's some horrific, terrible disease, so I owe her one…when she sees this. Melanie, you've got some horrible disease coming your way [laughs]. That's easy to do.

What can you say about Steven's presence as Blaine? I see you guys got a good scene in episode three.

Yeah, I love Steven. We met before ['Revival'] because Steven did a little character pass in a series I was in called 'Heels'. I was also a fan of his work on 'The Walking Dead', and Steven's a great guy to work with, man. He's a terrific actor, comes prepared, comes to play, and so it was fun. It was fun to joust with him.

Revival, which also stars Andy McQueen, CM Punk, Gia Sandhu, and Katharine King, premieres June 12th on Syfy and is available to stream on Peacock the following week.

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