Posted in: SYFY, TV | Tagged: dean devlin, exclusive, interview, Jonathan Glassner, ryan adams, Stacey Read, syfy, the ark

The Ark Stars Read, Adams Discuss Season 2, "Doctor Who," Fans & More

The Ark stars Stacey Read and Ryan Adams spoke with us about what to expect in Season 2, new additions, the fans, sci-fi loves, and more.

The pressure is always high on younger actors when they're part of an ensemble cast of a sci-fi franchise, as in the case of SYFY's The Ark. Stacey Read and Ryan Adams play Alicia Nevins and Angus Medford, respectively, as two young crew members who are finding their way out of the awkwardness of early adulthood. Alicia is a waste management engineer with coding skills, later promoted to chief of life support. Angus is a farm and 4-H youth from horticulture whose duties include crop development at the prospective colony. The series comes from the Stargate franchise's Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner. The two spoke with Bleeding Cool about how their characters have grown this season, the new crew, challenges, fandom, and much more.

The Ark Stars Stacey Read & Ryan Adams on New Challenges of Season 2

Bleeding Cool: Stacey, Ryan, how have your characters grown in season two?

Adams: Wow! They've grown a bunch. For Angus, it wasn't immediately about, "Okay, where did I leave off last season and how could I progress on that?" It was more like, "It wasn't like a smooth transition" because Stacey and the characters we know do live; they pick us up straight from where I left off. "Okay, cool. We're here. We're alive. Let's go save everyone." With me and with Angus, it was about waking up and thinking, "Where am I? How am I alive? Why am I here?" That whole ordeal was with Kelly saving his life with her blood and all that. It was tough for him to have that. His worst enemy's blood flows through his veins and it was quite awful. He's having to do a lot of growing and recovering, not only physically but mentally, too.

Was there any inspiration to help mold your characters of Alicia and Angus when you got cast?

Read: No, I don't know about Ryan. When they cast us, we shot the first episode. When we started filming, we'd get the episodes as we were shooting. It was one of those we got to build. I built [Alicia] around what we received, which was nice. I got to make her my own.

Adams: I don't remember taking inspiration from anything else, but if anything, my younger self, like Angus, is younger than me. I put myself back in my shoes during high school.

You have some new faces on board this season. What can you say about the additions to the crew from Ark 15?

Read: Within the show, it's nice to have…with Alicia's perspective on things being practical. It's nice getting new people onboard because Ark One is not in a great state. The more hands, the better, but it will be interesting for fans and viewers to see how each character interacts with these newcomers because not everyone feels the same way.

Adams: Some will welcome the additional help. Others, like Angus, do not like the idea of Art 15 helping at all because he was held captive there, and people in Ark 15 tried to kill him. It creates a lot of conflicts which makes it exciting.

What do the new actors bring energy-wise?

Adams: Good vibes, man. The new additions to the cast are nice. They're cool, and it felt like, to be fair, after a couple of weeks, they've been here the whole time. It gelled perfectly.

What are the biggest challenges in season two?

Read: It wasn't a filming thing, but I went through many things personally last year going into filming season two. It was nice that people who knew what I was going through were supportive. Dean [Devlin] was supportive and that was nice knowing we have that family and support system there. So that helped.

As young actors in 'The Ark' as your first foray into episodic television, what's the most invaluable lesson you've learned from your castmates? As a follow-up, what have your fan interactions been like?

Adams: Don't spike the lens [laughs]. Don't look directly into the camera. No, I've done a bunch of stuff filming season one. Any cast member who isn't new to filming episodic TV could probably tell you. Reece Ritchie is a great person to have in your first job. Doing scenes with him, I learned about eye lines and how to work with the camera and stuff. It's always a dance. I've learned so much you can only learn on the job. I learned a bunch from acting school, but you learn best by doing.

Read: [My experience is] like Ryan's [laughs].

Interacting with fans, what's that been like?

Adams: That's been good. Stace, I spoke too much. [Reed laughs]

Read: It has been good. I get lovely messages from fans. I've got people who have sent me fan art and I'm like, "You've taken the time out of your day to draw my face. That's incredible!" People have been lovely and I'm happy people can relate to my character and find joy in the show.

Adams: Likewise, we've got a warm and supportive fan base, which is cool. It's more than you can ask for.

Have there been other sci-fi franchises you guys followed growing up?

Adams: Stace and I are big sci-fi fans.

Read: We're nerds.

Adams: Was it 'Doctor Who' you were a fan of?

Read: I'm a big fan of 'Doctor Who' and we both love 'Star Wars.'

Adams: 'Star Wars' is the sci-fi I love.

Do you have a favorite Doctor?

Read: The 10th, David Tennant's always, and now the 14th, I guess [laughs]. David Tennant has always been my favorite doctor and Matt Smith is a close second.

The Ark, which also stars Christie Burke, Richard Fleeshman, Pavle Jerinić, Shalini Peiris, and Tiana Upcheva, airs Wednesdays on Syfy and streams on Peacock.

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