Posted in: TNT, TV | Tagged: The Librarians, The Librarians: The Next Chapter

The Librarians: The Next Chapter: McGowan, Robinson on Devlin's Style

The Librarians: The Next Chapter stars Callum McGowan and Bluey Robinson discuss joining the series and Dean Devlin's creative approach.

It didn't take long for The Librarians: The Next Chapter stars Callum McGowan and Bluey Robinson to get caught up on Dean Devlin's universe once they were cast as Vikram Chamberlain and Connor Green. With Olivia Morris and Jessica Green, who play scientist Lysa Pascal and Guardian Charlie Cornwall, the four lead the latest incarnation of the series that started as a Noah Wyle vehicle as a trilogy of films in 2004, starting with The Librarian: Quest for the Spear that adapted the original David Titcher story to screen. Following the two films and the TNT series that lasted for four seasons from 2014-2018, The Next Chapter focuses on a new crew with original series star Christian Kane reprising his role as Jacob Stone to help pass the torch.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter follows Vikram, a Librarian from 1847, who finds himself in the present day and in the Belgrade branch as he works with a new crew and has six months to fix the problems. McGowan and Robinson spoke with Bleeding Cool about their auditions, how their mothers made them aware of the original series, and Devlin's genius.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter Stars Callum McGowan and Bluey Robinson on Embracing Dean Devlin's Magical Abilities of Escapism

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'The Librarians: The Next Chapter', and how did you get involved?

McCallum: I got involved, I imagine, the same way we all did: our agents gave us a call and said, "Have a look at this script," and it was one of those very rare scripts that come across you, every now and again. It screamed attention, and the minute I read it, I wanted to be part of it, but I would love to say a lovely story about how Dean found me and demanded I do the role, but no, I did it in a very generic way. I auditioned and got the job.

Robinson: It was the first audition I had last year. I hadn't worked for a while, and then it's been quiet because of the writers' strike, Covid, and stuff. The industry itself has slowed down in general. [My agent] sent me the email and said, "First audition of the year, make it count." I was like, "Right," and then a year and a half later, I'm still here.

McCallum: I don't know why you're still here, but you're still here.

Robinson: They're going to figure out that I have no idea what I'm doing [McGowan laughs]. It is just a fun show, and a fun character, like a comedy. I've never done a comedy before, or comedy acting even. I wasn't even sure how much I could pull it off, but I knew I liked it, and I was having fun with it. That was it. I did my tape, sent it off, left it to the universe, and here we are.

Before getting cast as Vikram and Connor, how familiar were you with the franchise in general? Do you see the films and the original TV show?

McCallum: Both our mums were big fans of the original films with Noah Wyle, but I remember seeing it on TV, but didn't catch the series. I think it was bigger in the States than it was in the UK. My mum and Bluey's mum were very excited when we got the job, but no, I didn't get to see the series before.

Robinson: Neither have I. I recognized it once I googled and looked at some of the clips. I said, "I do recognize the show. I recognize the faces and the actors, but couldn't put a name to the show," and that's because my mum and my little sister used to watch it in the living room. I probably passed it and stuff. Once I had the audition, I looked into the show and watched a lot of the first couple of seasons and the original movie as well.

What was it like working with Dean Devlin from the creative side, as showrunner?

Robinson: You want to take that one?

McCallum: Dean is the author of so many amazing projects, from what I grew up on, which I watched a million times, like 'Stargate' (1994) and then obviously 'Independence Day' (1996), and then 'Godzilla' (1998). This is someone who I always thought was someone who's dedicated first and foremost to the art of storytelling. That is his mantra; he wants to design escapism where people can escape into stories and believe for a moment that magic can exist in a world. You feel his energy whenever you come on, when you meet him, and work with him; it's a privilege and a pleasure to be able to call myself someone who's a small part of his universe.

Robinson: When [Dean] comes on set, he knows exactly what he wants. He knows he's got so much experience, and he knows everybody's job better than they do in a way, so that he understands everything. Even when there's a problem, he can always solve it by moving a camera here or there were a few things. It was a bit where Liv [Morris] and I were like far from each other, but we couldn't change positions. He's like, "OK, stand a bit forward and on the camera." It looked like we were closer, but one of us was more forward or further back. I was like, "Wow, that's like something you learn from experience from doing this long enough." It's great working with Dean. I love being in his world and creating something that is escapism. It's fun. You can forget about what's going on out there for a while and believe in the magic that's important.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter airs the two-night premiere on May 25-26 with new episodes on Mondays on TNT.

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