In an
interview to collider, actor Grant Bowler, aka Lawkeeper Nolan in Syfy’s
Defiance talked about the show and his character.
“…
What
was the motion capture process like for you?
BOWLER: The first question I asked them, when I got all of the
motion capture gear on and we talked about the scene, was what the frame was
because I couldn’t see any cameras. They laughed at me and said, “Oh,
we’ve got 400 cameras. You just do whatever you want to do. We’ll
come up with the frame later.” Having spent 20 years in front of cameras,
that was terrifying because I didn’t know what I was acting to and you get so
used to acting to a frame. It was also exhilarating because, for the
first time, you don’t have to worry about where the cameras are. You just
give your performance and they’ll put all the shots in. I love motion
capture now. I think it’s the best thing, ever. It’s
wonderful. It gives you an incredible freedom to just play things out.
We did it a number of times to give them a number of options, and then they
built the scenes around it. And because of shooting motion capture that
way, you never really know how the thing is going to look. It’s just a
complete surprise, which I find really lovely. I’m sure some people find
it a bit daunting, but I love it. It’s nice to be surprised again.
What
was it about this character that drew you to him?
BOWLER: I pretty much always choose characters. That’s what I
do. That’s what I look for. I look for dynamics in a script and
potential. From the start, Nolan was an incredible opportunity.
It’s such an open-ended, conflicted, wonderfully complex character. It
was exactly what I was looking for.
How
do you view Nolan?
BOWLER: Nolan is not a politician. I often think of Nolan as
a great peacekeeper, but a terrible lawman. He has absolutely no time for
rules and regulations, whatsoever. He has a great sense of justice.
He knows what’s right and what’s wrong, and is incredibly pragmatic. He’s
going to look for the solution that actually works in the world, and not
necessarily the one that ticks the box for anybody.
…
What
was it like, to see how the sets and vehicles would look, and what everybody
would look like in their costumes and make-up?
BOWLER: I was just incredibly excited. It started when we
turned up for pre-production and the backlot was being built. Every day,
I would see the backlot going up and this town coming into being. We’re
so lucky with that backlot. All of the things in the script actually
became concrete. And then, when they started dressing the backlot and
fitting out the sets on the inside, and I watched Tony [Curran] and Jaime
[Murray] and Stephanie [Leonidas] going through their make-up and wardrobe, it
just got really, really exciting. The level of elegance and grace in the
design is one of the things that makes it really, really special. It’s
just beautifully designed. We’ve created this world that is lovely, and
everybody is very concerned with keeping that mythology sacrosanct.
People watch, these days, with a different set of eyes than they did 20 or 30
years ago. They notice inconsistencies. When I really get invested
in something, the one thing that really disappoints me is when it breaks its
own rules.
As
you got more scripts and learned more about the journey your character was
taking, did you find yourself getting more excited about exploring this
character in future seasons?
BOWLER: Absolutely! We covered a lot of ground, in the first
season, and there’s a lot of backstory dug up on Nolan and Irisa. I’m
absolutely determined to take that forward.“
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