Last week, Syfy premiered its new series, Wynonna Earp, based on the comic series by Beau Smith. The show follows bad-ass demon-fighting Wynonna Earp (Melanie Scrofano), as she tries to stop the Revenants, who are resurrected criminals previously killed by her ancestor Wyatt. She is helped by her sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), her new boss Agent Dolls (Shamier Anderson), and Wyatt's immortal best friend Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon).

Comic creator Smith, showrunner Emily Andras, along with stars Scrofano, Provost-Chalkley, and Rozon, recently talked to the media about the new series.

First, the showrunner and comic creator talked about adapting Wynonna Earp to a television series.

According to Smith, “This marks 20 years that Wynonna Earp’s been a publication, and when we knew that this was actually going to be a television series, my decision was, this is great, put me in contact with as much stuff as possible, and what I'll do with the new series is make this a hybrid of the television series and what people traditionally have with the comic book series.

“So, thank goodness, Emily and everybody has just been [gangbusters] in making sure that I knew what was going on, and it helped me quite a bit in beginning. I continue to tell the origin of Wynonna Earp through Emily’s landscape, because I had always written [her as] 35-years-old to 40-years-old in the prime of her career.

“So, now, this is the beginning of her career with Black Badge Division, and Emily and the group have just really set this up for me, where I basically, yes, I baked the cake 20 years ago, but now we’ve got new icing on it, and it’s going to taste even better.”

Andras added, “I really feel like when IDW brought me this property, this graphic novel, it was as if people had cooked up something in the kitchen that was my perfect project.  I just couldn’t believe my luck the second I opened the graphic novel. I mean, I have been privileged enough to write a lot of genre; always a strong hero protagonist, and this had just such a doozy in Wynonna Earp. 

“She was such a fun, take no prisoners; give no quarter.  She was kind of a mess; she was wild; she was crazy; she was sexy.  And I just saw all the potential for a TV series in this character.  I just thought, ‘My God.’  First of all, there’s something so interesting about someone who is a descendant of one of the greatest heroes of all time.  When you have a last name like Earp, there are a certain expectations that are going to come with that. 

“From more so of that, immediately I started thinking, ‘What if you weren't such a great person? What if you were essentially one of the bad guys, or bad girls in this case, but you still have that last name?’ And I just saw a whole series where we could see if we could take this character and make her a hero, make her live up to Wyatt Earp’s name. 

“On top of that, I just can't go wrong with the idea of a team of underdogs, a motley crew of completely underfunded, under gunned and [under sung] teammates trying to fight big bad evil, so I could immediately start to see the landscape of this. So, we gave Wynonna cool sisters, one of whom is not around anymore at the event for the pilot.  And we brought in kind of a mysterious boss, Shamier Anderson, and immediately start thinking about the original bromance, so I started cooking up how we could possibly bring in Doc Holliday. 

“I just have to say, Beau Smith is just lovely in comics for a reason.  He’s just not only an incredible author who has an incredible imagination, but he is just such a gentleman and such a lovely collaborator. So I say without guile, it has been such a pleasurable experience working together and being able to take it from one medium and turn it into a television show.  I mean, he’s been so generous, so supportive. 

“…So, it really has been a joy.  It feels like a family.  I know people say that a lot, but I feel like if one tenth of the special bond and fun we all had working together on this translates on the screen, I know we’ll have a winner.”

Next, the actors talked about stunt training and filming action scenes. 

Scrofano found stunt fighting different than real life fighting. “It was intimidating. I got to do some training before we started with motorcycles and guns and also martial arts.  And one thing I learned is that you fight differently in real life than you do on screen so that nobody gets hurt.  And it turns out I’m not very good at that one. 

“So, I’m good at like fighting in real life; I’m great; I’m strong and [bust] you up.  But, yes, on screen, definitely, it was intimidating because I just never wanted to hurt someone and there were a couple occasions where I did. 

“But having said that, I pinched myself every day, because I got to go to work and be a giant kid and just fight and live in this amazing imagination of Beau’s and Emily.”

Rozon loved it. “I think that one is very true, we got to play.  We got to play every day.  It’s like what Melanie was saying, we got to be kids. Every day on set was like just being a little kid living a dream, playing, just playing, jumping through something, shooting something, it was awesome.  It’s just like playtime every day.”

Provost-Chalkley had never shot a gun before. “For me, I'm from the U.K., and I had never touched a gun in my life before setting foot on this set.  I mean, it’s just something that we do not do.  And then, first day, I arrived in Calgary and they [were] like, ‘So, you’ve got some shooting practice?’  I was like, ‘What?  This is crazy.’ 

“…I was like, ‘Oh, they can’t take the bullseye; it was crazy.”  But it was like I had to keep pinching myself when I was there, because I was like, “God, I’m playing with guns, this is crazy and I'm kind of enjoying it which is even [crazier].”  And yes, the adrenaline was rushing through our bodies.  I’ve got some videos which I’ll post eventually, freaking out after shooting our first gun. 

“So, yes, you get to go to work and run around shooting guns, and like Tim said “play.” We were literally playing the whole time so, it was pretty awesome.”

The cast and showrunner also talked about what they found challenging.

It was the first time Scrofano had played the lead. “I had never been in this position to be the title character of a show. So for me, it was definitely learning how to learn lines and be on set every day, just a bit of a learning curve.  And then, also, just battling those ideas, some feelings of self-doubt that would crop up, because I didn't want to let anyone down being the title character.  You just don't want to disappoint anyone. That or those two things were probably a hard thing for me.”

Provost-Chalkley was nervous at first too. “I second that with the self-doubt.  Mel and I had many conversations about little things with the (profiles).  But overall, the atmosphere was so good, so intensive to work.  It wasn’t necessarily a struggle to do it. There were really struggles from yourself, not from any mysterious thing, which I think is unusual. So, yes, we were very lucky in that sense.” 

Rozon added, “I find the challenge is now waiting to find out if we’re going to get to do it all again…I just wanted to do it.”

Andras didn’t have a hard time working with the cast. “It’s funny for me to hear this, because I will tell you, the cast was the least of my problems.  They were so good.  I’m like ‘OK, that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about is them.’ They arrived fully formed, they were so committed to their characters; I was so delighted. 

“It was all the other stuff, first season; it was really hard.  You don’t really have a pattern for anything from building sets to moving across the country to editing with remote, to all that boring stuff behind the scenes. 

“But I can also say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m sure runs before this is the first thing, I’ve had the pleasure of trading, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if there’s enough hours in a day to get this all done.’  But it seems to have gotten done. 

“So I would say it’s like going through a birth; it’s horrible, and then you look at your beautiful baby, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I just want to do it again.’  And then, hopefully, we’ll have the cast to see that.”

The actors also talked about finding inspiration for their characters.

According to Rozon, “The writing was so good that I was scared to do this character, because I’m the one based on a real person.  And so, it's kind of tough but at the same time; I've been dead for a certain amount of time where I should have been or am I just, tough to say really how this person would be. 

“So I just trusted in the writing in every episode, where it went, and the character development came with each episode and then, within each relationship, the performances of the other actors really helped me to form my own character. 

“I was very fortunate that right off the bat I have these great scenes with Michael Eklund, the Bobo Del Rey’s stuff, and he brought so much to it right away that I just knew I could play and feel free to go as far with the character [as] I wanted to. And no one ever told me to hold back, and no one ever told me to do less, and I just went with it, and then Emily was so amazing that she’d give support out almost after each episode saying parts she liked, and you normally don't get feedback. 

“So I had a lot of support. I just went and trusted in the writing in the next episode, and then the next engagement, and my first scene with Mel. And because Doc changes when he’s with different people, the character changed when I had scenes with Mel, it just happened organically and naturally. 

“It would just happen in those moments.  And that’s the assessment to the directors and the way they let us play the scene.  And then my stuff with Dom, I was just watching it back, like we flirted man; I didn't even knew that was happening. The stuff was nothing planned and it just happened organically.”

Scrofano added, “It was funny, because I got the character, and when I got the role, I felt pretty confident with who she was, but I definitely didn’t base her on anybody. 

“And then I remember one day being in a coffee shop…and there was a woman who has greeted me [and was rude], and I was really polite to her, but in my head I was like, ‘What?  Yes.’  I just in my head had really lost it, and I was 'Oh, Wynonna is my inside voice.'  She’s what I would want to do and say; so I sort of base it on that moment.”

Provost-Chalkley didn’t realize at first how much she was like Waverly. “I remember I had a conversation with Mel, and I was like, ‘Oh, I hope that I'm going in the right direction with that, and I’ve been doing loads of work at home and when we were in Calgary.’  And Mel just [turned] around to me, and was like, ‘You are Waverly. Don’t over think it too much.’ 

“And then I had a conversation with Emily, I remember in the office, and Emily has this amazing way of inspiring you just by saying a few words, and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God.’  And then you get super excited.  And I remember walking away from that and going, ‘Actually, there’re so many similarities about Waverly’s childhood in the past that I can use.’  And that was a really exciting moment, because then it was just meshing the two together. 

“And of course, Waverly goes on a massive journey in the show which is really exciting too, to play as she grows up.  You know, she’s 21, and she’s learning who she really wants to be, and that was me five years ago.  I would say that I was closer to the character than I originally thought.”

Syfy Conference Call
Wynonna Earp
Showrunner Emily Andras, Comic Creator Beau Smith
Stars Melanie Scrofano, Tim Rozon and Dominique Provost-Chalkley

March 29, 2016
3:00 p.m. ET

SCIFI VISION:   Emily and Beau, I was wondering if you two could talk about adapting the show from the comic book and how that went, how you had to change it – things like that? 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Sure.  No.  Beau, you start with a bit of the history of the comic, I think that’s good. 

BEAU SMITH:   Well, this marks 20 years that Wynonna Earp’s been a publication, and when we knew that this was actually going to be a television series, my decision was, this is great, put me in contact with as much stuff as possible, and what I'll do with the new series is make this a hybrid of the television series and what people traditionally have with the comic book series. 

So, thank goodness, Emily and everybody has just been [gangbusters] in making sure that I knew what was going on, and it helped me quite a bit in beginning. I continue to tell the origin of Wynonna Earp through Emily’s landscape, because I had always written [her as] 35-years-old to 40-years-old in the prime of her career.

So, now, this is the beginning of her career with Black Badge Division, and Emily and the group have just really set this up for me, where I basically, yes, I baked the cake 20 years ago, but now we’ve got new icing on it, and it’s going to taste even better. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Speaking of cake, I’m going to use that metaphor just right into the ground.  I really feel like when IDW brought me this property, this graphic novel, it was as if people had cooked up something in the kitchen that was my perfect project.  I just couldn’t believe my luck the second I opened the graphic novel. I mean, I have been privileged enough to write a lot of genre; always a strong hero protagonist, and this had just such a doozy in Wynonna Earp. 

She was such a fun, take no prisoners; give no quarter.  She was kind of a mess; she was wild; she was crazy; she was sexy.  And I just saw all the potential for a TV series in this character.  I just thought, “My God.”  First of all, there’s something so interesting about someone who is a descendant of one of the greatest heroes of all time.  When you have a last name like Earp, there are a certain expectations that are going to come with that. 

From more so of that, immediately I started thinking, “What if you weren't such a great person?” What if you were essentially one of the bad guys, or bad girls in this case, but you still have that last name? And I just saw a whole series where we could see if we could take this character and make her a hero, make her live up to Wyatt Earp’s name. 

On top of that, I just can't go wrong with the idea of a team of underdogs, a motley crew of completely underfunded, under gunned and [under sung] teammates trying to fight big bad evil, so I could immediately start to see the landscape of this. So, we gave Wynonna cool sisters, one of whom is not around anymore at the event for the pilot.  And we brought in kind of a mysterious boss, Shamier Anderson, and immediately start thinking about the original bromance, so I started cooking up how we could possibly bring in Doc Holliday. 

I just have to say, Beau Smith is just lovely in comics for a reason.  He’s just not only an incredible author who has an incredible imagination, but he is just such a gentleman and such a lovely collaborator. So I say without guile, it has been such a pleasurable experience working together and being able to take it from one medium and turn it into a television show.  I mean, he’s been so generous, so supportive. 

We really try to involve them with as much as we possibly could from daily to casting.  He got to come to set and work a flamethrower.  I don't know if he brought his own flamethrower or not. 

So, it really has been a joy.  It feels like a family.  I know people say that a lot, but I feel like if one tenth of the special bond and fun we all had working together on this translates on the screen, I know we’ll have a winner. 

SCIFI VISION:   OK.  Great.  Thanks.  And then, for the actors, you’ve got a lot of action-fun stunt stuff going on in the first couple episodes, can you tell us about that and how that went? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  It was intimidating. I got to do some training before we started with motorcycles and guns and also martial arts.  And one thing I learned is that you fight differently in real life than you do on screen so that nobody gets hurt.  And it turns out I’m not very good at that one. 

So, I’m good at like fighting in real life; I’m great; I’m strong and [bust] you up.  But, yes, on screen, definitely, it was intimidating because I just never wanted to hurt someone and there were a couple occasions where I did. 

But having said that, I pinched myself every day, because I got to go to work and be a giant kid and just fight and live in this amazing imagination of Beau’s and Emily. 

TIM ROZON:   Yes.  I think that one is very true, we got to play.  We got to play every day.  It’s like what Melanie was saying, we got to be kids. Every day on set was like just being a little kid living a dream, playing, just playing, jumping through something, shooting something, it was awesome.  It’s just like playtime every day. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes.  Absolutely.  So, for me, I'm from the U.K., and I had never touched a gun in my life before setting foot on this set.  I mean, it’s just something that we do not do.  And then, first day, I arrived in Calgary and they [were] like, “So, you’ve got some shooting practice?”  I was like, “What?  This is crazy.” 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   You were amazing. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I was amazing, wasn’t I? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Now, even bizarre.  It was like the way it is thing. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   It was really impressing. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I was like, “Oh, they can’t take the bullseye; it was crazy.”  But it was like I had to keep pinching myself when I was there, because I was like, “God, I’m playing with guns, this is crazy and I'm kind of enjoying it which is even more crazy.”  And yes, the adrenaline was rushing through our bodies.  I’ve got some videos which I’ll post eventually, freaking out after shooting our first gun. 

So, yes, you get to go to work and run around shooting guns, and like Tim said “play.” We were literally playing the whole time so, it was pretty awesome. 

QUESTION:   For Emily and Beau, as far as the season, how much of it is planned out and Emily mentioned that Beau is involved, do you see every script or did you just get ideas on what you're doing? 

EMILY ANDRAS:   I think that the season was pretty planned out far as first season, you’ve got to show the network that you have a plan, to be completely honest. 

My joke is always people say, “Oh, my gosh, how much work is the pilot script?”  And I’m like, “Well, I actually have it, when you’re in development; you have like two years with the pilot script.”  It’s the script (for two) that you're terrified of because you think, “Oh, my God.  This is it.  We got to show this is actually a show, like stuff is actually happening in every episode.” 

And I really love episode two but it was certainly a lot of work.  Again, we tried to show Beau absolutely as much as he wanted to see and he has, as discussed, put out many series of comic books that are companion pieces.  So he and I were really in contact as far as just trying to be respectful, like when does this character find out this about another character, when does this character reveal his big secret? Just so that we were really working in tandem that way. 

But the truth about if you're a good producer is you do need to have a plan, but part of things when you have a cast like this – and this by far is the best cast I've ever worked with.  They’re just so phenomenal. 

You got to be open-minded in the first season because you've really got to see people’s strength and weaknesses. You may find out if someone’s like, “Oh, my God, the British girl is so good at hitting the target. We got to give her more guns,” or “Doc Holliday is our last pride.  He’s so funny.  We got to give him more comedy.” 

So I think part of the joy is you need to have a plan so you can sleep at night when you're doing a first season, but you should be open-minded and if something better comes along, a better idea from anyone, you need to be collaborative and open to that kind of stuff. So we certainly were, we certainly were. 

QUESTION:   For the actors, how much preparation did you all have to play your roles? Melanie and Dominique are playing sisters, how much time did you have to develop those relationships?   

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   It wasn’t hard, was it Mel, for us? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   No.  You and I got along right away. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes. Dom, I can't speak for you but for me I had to know a few weeks before to really think about who Wynonna is and what makes her tick.  And then, with the relationship, I think we just got really lucky because, well, certainly Dom and I had chemistry right away.  It was just like we had known each other forever. 

And it ignited what it was to have a sister so we jumped right into the idea of having to know that.  And then, we’ll speak about Tim because he’s here but he was just so eager and ready to play Doc and he just came to set every day with such an annoyingly positive attitude and he wanted to play and he never complained and we just really fell into the perfect group of people. 

Shamier was just such a huge fan of Tim for sure, so it was just so sweet to see the the camaraderie between them. I wish he was here to speak to that because I think that was really important too.

TIM ROZON:   God, I [just got] a compliment from Melanie Scrofano.  No one understands… 

(Crosstalk)

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Don’t get used to it. Calm down, don’t get used to it. I know, we do. 

TIM ROZON:   And I love [that] people heard it, which is pretty amazing. 

For me, I went from being really excited to getting [the] part, it’s an iconic character that a lot of people know and I wanted to do it justice.  It’s been done well so many times before that I knew there’ll be a lot of people looking for the things I did wrong or I didn't want to mess up other people’s visions or versions of the character. 

But at the same time, I wanted to make it on my own and not do anything that had been done before.  And like I said, it goes back to playing, I just had a lot of fun playing and I think there was a lot of times I tried to bring a lot of fun to the character of Doc.  And I wanted a real mustache, so three to four months, I grew that mustache. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   That was the main preparation for you, right? 

TIM ROZON:   So, mustache. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Well, for me, I think found out a little late more than everyone else so it was very much like, “Hey, do you want to go Calgary tomorrow and play a TV series?” 

And I was like, “Yes.”  Not actually tomorrow but it was certainly quite a quick turnaround.  But I think that actually helped me in the long run because it was just one of those things we have to just jump straight in. 

And of course I was nervous and felt like I hadn’t maybe done as much preparation the way really asked for.  I would've liked to but actually, the minute I stepped foot in Calgary and read the first couple of episodes I was like, this writing is so strong.

And it makes it so clear that you just have to have the faith and the trust in that, he was so supportive.  And you know I say it again and again that the crew and the whole team was such a little family that I just felt safe from the get go and I think that even, yes, from episode one we just all clicked and connected. 

So, yes, it kind of worked out perfectly really. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   I think also shout out to the crew for also becoming part of the family because… 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes, exactly. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   They believed in us every, every day.  They were just, they would like to blow takes by laughing which is such a gift and they genuinely love each of us and our characters.  And so to feel like we were so supported by the people who really don’t have to like us, they just have to come to work and do their jobs.  And they loved us and we loved them and I think that really helped us all really want to make something great. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Absolutely. 

(Crosstalk)

EMILY ANDRAS:   Yes.  They are really incredible crew.  I should shout out Alberta.  They worked on Fargo and a little movie I like to call The Revenant, so you know they had seen quality and I would tease them, I would say like, yes, but this is it guys.  This is it.  [Laughs]

MELANIE SCROFANO:   And they’re such the unsung heroes. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Absolutely. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  And we’re the face of the show but there’s so much more, they make us that, we’re so good. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   And they were great.  They would read the scripts and be like, “What the hell, Andrew, what’s going to happen next?”  And I’d be like, “What do you think is going to happen next” with the pen and paper.  No, I wouldn’t do that. 

QUESTION:   Emily, I'm curious how, as a writer, you balance not doing too much in the first episode, because oftentimes shows really fall off on that second episode, but that's not the case. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Oh, that’s so nice to hear because honestly, as a writer, episode two is just the one makes your blood run ice cold. 

So I'm really proud of the second episode. I think the difference in the second episode, I feel like a comedy starts to pop and the cast just arrived so fully formed and we get to start to put these characters and situations with each other, right?  We get to see Doc Holliday and Wynonna meet and Doc meets Wynonna’s little sister, and Dallas and Wynonna are trying to work together and they’re so different. 

So in some ways the second episode is really hard because you want to keep people’s interest but I do feel like the handcuffs come off as well and you’re like OK, now we really can start playing. 

There’s a lot of mythology to set up in the pilot and I’m very proud of how we did it.  But I do feel like [the] second episode, as far as tone, feels very much what I hope we’re putting on screen which is an insane crazy ride and then some incredible emotional payoffs. 

So, yes, it’s terrifying but once you start to crack the second episode, I really felt like in our writer’s room, we had a great set of writers.  I felt like, all I do want to know what happens next.  And then I want to know what happens next, so I really appreciate you saying that.  Thank you.  Episode three is even better.  I’m not even just saying that, it really is. 

QUESTION:   Melanie, maybe you could talk a little bit about how shows like this, where we talked about a strong female lead, oftentimes these characters seem to be almost perfect on pedestals.  But you’ve really grounded Wynonna and maybe you could talk a little bit about her. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Thank you.  Yes.  It’s just that, I look in real life at the real-life superhero women that we all know and love. I’ll talk about my mom, don't tell her because it will make her cry but she is the strongest woman you'll ever meet in your life. 

She will end your life if you try to mess with her children.  She is a ferocious leader.  She was the boss where she works.  But she will cry at the drop of a hat.  She probably watched the Rosen brothers on The Voice and sobbed.  She cries at figure skating. She’s so vulnerable and funny and tells inappropriate jokes even though she's supposed to be the parent, and she's a real woman.  And she’s not perfect but perfect in her imperfection. 

And that’s I think what Wynonna is and hopefully she makes everybody know, you know what, I'm not perfect, I screwed up but I'm just going to keep forging ahead in trying to be better and make things right. 

And I'm probably going to fall on my face a few times along the way and so be it.  And that's what I love about her. Did I just answer a question or completely go on a tangent?

QUESTION:   No, no.  You’re fine. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   You answered it perfectly. 

QUESTION:   That’s the part I think that folks are going to find the attraction to Wynonna is how real she is and down-to-earth, that’s what you’re talking about really. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   I think Melanie is real and down-to-earth too.  And so beautiful and all that stuff.  But I feel like Mel won this role not only because of her incredible range and extraordinary audition but she put so much of herself in Wynonna and sets a funny, charming, real woman that, it just felt like she came fully formed.  And it was just so fun to go back and forth and see Mel in the character and see the character in Mel. 

She herself is like that so if you loved Wynonna, you’ll love Mel. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   But also, for you too, that was on the page, I was able to bring that because you allowed it to be a thing for the character. 

So it’s just such a great meshing, it’s just a perfect storm of people coming together to allow this character to be who she is. 

QUESTION:   Cast members, any fun set stories to share? Who’s the prankster or how many times you really remember, some cool stuff happened with the fans?

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I don’t know, who would you say?

MELANIE SCROFANO:   I would say Tim but I don’t know why, right? 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   You think Tim? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   But don’t you? 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes.  Absolutely.  But why… 

TIM ROZON:   But yet, I never did anything. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   I know. 

TIM ROZON:   I would also agree with the statement.  But then, I would also… 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Guys, guys, let’s come through on this question.  Because for sure there’s an answer to it. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   There was one day that was so cold…all the time, we were having really good weather in Calgary.  There is one day that was so cold, all the equipment shut down… 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   And we had animals on the set.  I don't want to brag but we might have had a friend from Tim Rozon with four legs.  But it was so cold, the camera shut down and it was freezing cold and I saw our director, (Peter) sobbing that day, I saw the moment where he was like, “I’ve given up, just go on without me, just leave me on the set.”

And I had a friend on the show, (Gor Grant), he’s really good.  He was like, “I don’t want to be the Ontario guy but I actually think I might die.”  I think I might die. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  We were caught unaware by the weather. And so, there were days, it got like OK, warm to like ball breaking freezing… 

And for Dom, there was one episode where… 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Oh, yes.  Oh, my God. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   That was in a tiny mini dress outside fighting things and… 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I was holding a skull, wasn’t I, and I remember in the take, I had to look down at my hand and I wasn’t sure whether I dropped the skull because I couldn’t feel my hand. I was like, “Oh, shit.” 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   The weird thing was you brought that skull yourself, that was weird.  You did clean it though, so that was nice. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   A lot of things were hilarious on set.  I think that came out, just being completely delirious.  And so it might not be funny to everyone else but I just remember being in hysterics sometimes just because we were like, “What is going on?  This is crazy.”  Like, there’s a guy in boots just outside in the cold and just pissing out, I was laughing because of it.    It was great. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Well, the genre thing too where you have to act against self that may not be there all the time, right?  You have to commit and you’re like, I hope it’s going to be fun for these guys as well to see it after self process and you’re like, “Oh, my God, they actually put in a crazy werewolf or whatever we need.” 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Like Tim jumping around in the mirror, you remember that Tim? 

TIM ROZON:   In the mirror? 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   In the mirror, in the (bus dream).  I don’t want to say too much but you were like…

TIM ROZON:   Oh, yes, yes. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I just remember watching the monitor being like, “What is he doing?” 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   One thing Tim would do, it wasn’t a practical joke or anything but he would take pictures of us on the monitor while we were shooting, he wouldn't even be in the scene.  He would just be about watching.  And then, he would send us those pictures, it was just such a sweet little gesture.

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Adorable. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  It was just a nice little gesture, he was just a fan of the show while we were shooting, he’s really cool.  Don’t tell him I said that, I hate him. 

[Laughter]

QUESTION:   One thing I got from all of the previews and the trailers is there’s a lot of humor in the show. A lot of sci-fi tends to be very heavy and occasional humor, but the humor in this seems to be really woven through it. Can you talk about how that impacts the story line and the tenor of the show? 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Yes.  Absolutely.  I think that tone was really important to me and to us, I hope.  I just can’t speak highly enough about the comic. 

When you pick it out, it’s just like, yes, it’s the 20-year anniversary of Wynonna Earp to comic but it has this energy that is just so fun and funny and unapologetically committed to monsters fighting and I do think that there's a lot of genre television right now and how this plays looked like very dire and serious battle start influenced.  

So it felt like it was really built-in.  I just wanted it to feel fun.  I think that people need some of that right now and it’s time for that.  We put to this (Buffy) needs justified so; obviously (Buffy) will influence anything good ever, hopefully. 

And then, later, I pitched to this (Buffy)-meets-Frozen because the sister relationship is really complicated.  But I think that also comes from wanting to have a female lead who’s really well rounded.  I like funny women and I like women who are not perfect. 

So it just seemed right not cropping that.  But I do think tone is important, I hope that people fall in love with that.  I hope they fall in love with the comedy.  I hope they’re quoting it back to us for years to come, that would be great.

SCIFI VISION:   What so far have you found the most challenging working on the show? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   I had never been in this position to be the title character of a show. So for me, it was definitely learning how to learn lines and be on set every day, just a bit of a learning curve.  And then, also, just battling those ideas, some feelings of self-doubt that would crop up, because I didn't want to let anyone down being the title character.  You just don't want to disappoint anyone. That or those two things were probably a hard thing for me.

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I second that with the self-doubt.  Mel and I had many conversations about little things with the (profiles).  But overall, the atmosphere was so good, so intensive to work.  It wasn’t necessarily a struggle to do it. There were really struggles from yourself, not from any mysterious thing, which I think is unusual. So, yes, we were very lucky in that sense. 

TIM ROZON:   I find the challenge is now waiting to find out if we’re going to get to do it all again.  I’m feel like, I’ve never been in sports. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes. 

TIM ROZON:   I just wanted to do it.  On another note, I will say this is about Mel as a number one.  She was my new favorite number one that I could ever work with and I think watching her grow as a person over the course of this time was amazing and I remember her being nervous about it.  But she held it the whole production on her shoulders in a lot of ways and she set the tone every day. Thanks for that, you are awesome. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Well, thank you. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   She is awesome. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   You did send me a note.  Tim sent a little, we had a quick talk at lunch one day, he was very early on and I was like, “What if I can’t do this?” and he’s like, “Oh, no, you got this.”  And he was like, no you got this, and then he sent me an e-mail later and he was like, “The universe doesn’t send you anything you can’t handle and that’s great.”

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   You make me cry. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  I know. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   And it’s funny for me to hear this, because I will tell you, the cast was the least of my problems.  They were so good.  I’m like “OK, that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about is them.” They arrived fully formed, they were so committed to their characters; I was so delighted. 

It was all the other stuff, first season; it was really hard.  You don’t really have a pattern for anything from building sets to moving across the country to editing with remote, to all that boring stuff behind the scenes. 

But I can also say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m sure runs before this is the first thing, I’ve had the pleasure of trading, and I was like, I don’t know if there’s enough hours in a day to get this all done.  But it seems to have gotten done. 

So I would say it’s like going through a birth; it’s horrible, and then you look at your beautiful baby, and you’re like, “Oh, I just want to do it again.”  And then, hopefully, we’ll have the cast to see that. 

SCIFI VISION:   Is there anything that you particularly brought, either inspiration from somebody else or even from yourself that you brought in, or you just take everything from the script when you created your characters? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Tim, I want to know answer to that. 

TIM ROZON:   Well, I don’t want to be gushy or whatever, but the writing was so good that I was scared to do this character, because I’m the one based on a real person.  And so, it's kind of tough but at the same time; I've been dead for a certain amount of time where I should have been or am I just, tough to say really how this person would be. 

So I just trusted in the writing in every episode, where it went, and the character development came with each episode and then, within each relationship, the performances of the other actors really helped me to form my own character. 

I was very fortunate that right off the bat I have these great scenes with Michael Eklund, the Bobo Del Rey’s stuff, and he brought so much to it right away that I just knew I could play and feel free to go as far with the character [as] I wanted to. And no one ever told me to hold back, and no one ever told me to do less, and I just went with it, and then Emily was so amazing that she’d give support out almost after each episode saying parts she liked, and you normally don't get feedback. 

So I had a lot of support. I just went and trusted in the writing in the next episode, and then the next engagement, and my first scene with Mel. And because Doc changes when he’s with different people, the character changed when I had scenes with Mel, it just happened organically and naturally. 

It would just happen in those moments.  And that’s the assessment to the directors and the way they let us play the scene.  And then my stuff with Dom, I was just watching it back, like we flirted man; I didn't even knew that was happening. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I know. 

TIM ROZON:   The stuff was nothing planned and it just happened organically. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   OK.  Yes, I did some; I came at it. It was funny, because I got the character, and when I got the role, I felt pretty confident with who she was, but I definitely didn’t base her on anybody. 

And then I remember one day being in a coffee shop that’s quite prolific that show my (name).  And there was a woman who has greeted me, and I was really polite to her, but in my head I was like, “What?  Yes.”  I just in my head had really lost it, and I was "Oh, Wynonna is my inside voice."  She’s what I would want to do and say; so I sort of base it on that moment.

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   For me, I think that I didn’t realize how close to Waverly I actually was.  I remember I had a conversation with Mel, and I was like, “Oh, I hope that I'm going in the right direction with that, and I’ve been doing loads of work at home and when we were in Calgary.”  And Mel just [turned] around to me, and was like, “You are Waverly. Don’t over think it too much.” 

And then I had a conversation with Emily, I remember in the office, and Emily has this amazing way of inspiring you just by saying a few words, and you’re like, “Oh, my God.”  And then you get super excited.  And I remember walking away from that and going, "Actually, there’s so many similarities about Waverly’s childhood in the past that I can use."  And that was a really exciting moment, because then it was just meshing the two together. 

And of course, Waverly goes on a massive journey in the show which is really exciting too, to play as she grows up.  You know, she’s 21, and she’s learning who she really wants to be, and that was me five years ago.  I would say that I was closer to the character than I originally thought. 

QUESTION:   One of the things I love about the show is it has a Western flavor to it and I don’t know if you’re all conscious of it. Is that something you all work on or it’s there in the script? It has a modern take but it has a Western flavor, too. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   I think that was conscious.  We were very, very conscious from the producer’s standpoint.  But I really want to emphasize this, it is like a modern western. We always say Wynonna would never ride a horse, she hates horses and they hate her.  She would ride the Harley like a bat out of hell. 

And that is true of modern-day Alberta, which is like Canada’s Montana.  It is a world of contradiction.  It isn’t people wearing cowboy hats and riding tractors to work.  It's big oil and a huge earth community and probably one of the most progressive cities in Canada. 

So, anyway, we were conscious about the spirit a Western, I would like from the credit point of view, not only all the best is so incredible and the landscape is so amazing. 

But the biggest thing I think that was an influence or our tone with the idea of shades of gray which you see and a Justified, which is a huge influence. Wynonna is really fighting people, some of them really hate her and some of them really know her and again, she's not a good guy necessarily. 

So, over the course of the series we really say with those shades of gray. Even Doc Holliday, when you hear the name Doc Holliday you may have expectations about what it's like and we try to birth those expectations.  I don’t think anyone is all good and all evil so that more than anything really excited me as far as the Western side.  OK.  Someone else go. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   And I just like how [it is] such a modern take on what a Western can be and we weren’t trying to like imitate anything, it was just all sort of, “This is what it’s like now in this world.” And so it felt fresh. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes.  It’s nice watching it back as well and seeing there are, modern…it’s like you say, there’s a flavor of it. Instead of, instead of (haggering) to get a horse from (Jody), you think it’s going to be a horse and then, she comes riding out. 

And it’s amazing in those fights.  And all of those little hints that they put in is so, so clever and even though I think as the actors, we didn’t necessarily play that, it comes out very beautifully. 

QUESTION:   And we saw some flashbacks already, will there be more at the season progresses? 

TIM ROZON:   Spoiler alert. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Spoiler. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Maybe.  Maybe.  Yes.  No.  It’s such a rich history, right?  Like the legends of the Old West and the legend of Wyatt Earp and there’s a lot of people with the name as name (Mrs. Balcolv).  And so, yes, what do you got?  You get them the money where we’ll go to, we’ll got to Arizona and do next year.  We’ll do the OK Corral.  And that position and seeing how the past and of course, our influence the future.  Yes, there’s some more coming up. 

QUESTION:   And Tim, if you want to say, “I’m your Huckleberry,” which is the, the real Doc Holliday said, you can certainly use that. 

TIM ROZON:   I’m your Huckleberry. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   Although, I always say on our show, if we have something called the Huckleberry, it’s going to have tentacles and suck your face off.  Just brace yourself for that.  You don’t want to meet our Huckleberry. 

QUESTION:   Melanie, there’s a scene in the second episode of you with agent Dolls on a shooting range, working with some weapons, and you very much looked like what a lot of us would do when you get to finally use a very cool gun. I’m curious with all that takes you must have to do, how did you keep that childhood wonderment on yourself all the time? 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   It felt new every time, to be honest.  I don’t know that in one day and a few days you can really get used to the power that you’re holding, so I think every time I shot and each one, each gun is different, so peacemaker feels how I’ve shot it with these certain numbers of shots at this point and it’s very different feeling than a block, than whatever the words of the other one are. 

TIM ROZON:   Look at Mel pulling blocks. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   That’s the only one I know.  You know a, a what’s it called… the shotgun. 

Anyway, they’re very different, they all feel powerful and not necessarily always in the good way.  But they all feel so different, that wonder that comes with the shooting each one and you don’t get used to them in a day.  That’s a great one. 

QUESTION:   Excellent.  Well, you definitely, definitely brought across on screen, I got to say. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Thank you.  Yes.  And there’s an element of just letting yourself enjoy it too. 

QUESTION:   Tim, from what I’ve heard, you’re very much a real sci-fi fan, I heard you really went hard for the role. Can you talk a little bit about that? 

EMILY ANDRAS:   I’ll talk about Tim’s audition if you want…. 

QUESTION:   Yes.  I’d be very curious to hear more about that. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   I have worked with Tim in the past so it’s definitely always been a pleasure on a variety of projects and he’s a very well respected Canadian actor. 

So I was certainly happy to hear he was auditioning.  But I thought, “Oh, Doc is going to be blond.”  I don’t know why, you just get weird with your head when you’re a writer. 

And I knew Tim was auditioning but when I saw what he did, I was completely blown away.  It was such a transformative performance.  And the other thing I would say is Doc Holliday is an iconic character that there’s certain expectations that comes with performing. Val Kilmer made it his own. Dennis Quaid made it his own. 

What I like about Tim’s performance is it felt both nostalgic and familiar and yet completely (camera) is on interpretation.  It's not an imitation, he’s not doing Val Kilmer and Tombstone.  He’s doing his own Doc Holliday and I'm telling you it is one for the ages.  It’s so good.  It’s so good.  It’s so nuanced.  It’s so funny and it’s so complicated. 

So that was a role I was really concerned about filling and I’m glad Tim is not on the call for this but that was one of the first ones we knew, I was like, we’re done, it’s perfect.  We don’t have to do Star Search for this.  We got it.  It’s Tim Rozon. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   That’s so lovely. 

EMILY ANDRAS:   But if he comes back on the call, tell him I said he was just OK. 

QUESTION:   Dominique, we’re learning that being the little sister, you’re really being a nice linchpin for us as the viewers.  You’re very, certainly in the first couple of episodes, talking very honestly with Wynonna, you’ve done a lot of work, your character has an understanding on things. Can you talk a little bit about how you see yourself as part of the story? 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   I would say that what’s really lovely about Waverly, when we find her at the start of the season is that,she has been working so hard without her sister there to get to the bottom of the things that has been happening in Purgatory. 

And that’s really inspiring, that she’s adamant that she’s going to get to the bottom of things and then, of course, when Wynonna comes along, it sparks something off in her that inspires her to be like, “Come on, we can do this and we can team up.” 

And I think that’s such a lovely outlook that she has as this young girl and really inspiring, somebody who is super intelligent and isn’t afraid of that whereas Wynonna might be slightly more tentative at the beginning, Waverly is like, “Come on, let’s go.”  She’s all guns blazing and that’s a very brave quality in a young woman. 

So, yes, I think what was really nice was the contrast of the two sisters at the beginning in entering the journey that they were about to have.  It just brings the different flavor and it’s really nice to play with that, with Mel. 

MELANIE SCROFANO:   Yes.  I liked your character, she could easily fall into that, the weak, but I don’t know, you have such an innocence… Well, you do, too.  But Waverly has such an innocence about her.  And so it could easily be like, “Help me, save me.”  And then it’s a bit boring.  And you’re just as much a bad ass as anyone else.  It’s just you do it in your own way, which is really cool. 

DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY:   Yes.  I’d agree with that.