As the young, hip, brilliant techno wiz who managed to breach the Warehouse's complex security system in order to track down Artie (Saul Rubinek), Allison Scagliotti's character, Claudia Donovan, has a natural aptitude for science and technology that enables her to assist the Team, made up of Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly).

In this exclusive interview, Allison Scagliotti told IESB about how fun it is to work on Warehouse 13, and how she's branching out further into sci-fi with a stint as one of the Wonder Twins on Smallville this season.

IESB: How did you get interested in acting? Was it just something you always knew you wanted to do, or did someone encourage you to do it?

Allison: My mom and I joke, all the time, about how I came out of the womb performing, which is true. My family moved to Louisiana when I was just shy of turning 5, and my mom caught me, out by the pool, doing Bill Cosby impressions for the pool man. So, it was evident, early on, that I needed an outlet for my tendency to put on a show.

At 5, after some researching and discovering that the school I was about to attend did have a drama department. I broke the door down and was the youngest student admitted to that program. I got into ballet when I was 3, and I started taking piano. If I hadn't moved to Los Angeles to pursue film and television, I probably would have wound up at a performing arts school, or just moved to New York to take the Great White Way by storm. It's something that I've been into, all my life. For better or worse, I don't think I can shake this performing curse.

IESB: Did you have a moment when you realized it was something you could actually make a career out of?

Allison: When I was 11, I discovered this copy of Good Morning, Vietnam in my VHS collection. I watched it and I became obsessed with that movie, and I think that was the movie that made me think, "I wanna make films. I wanna do what Robin Williams does."

But, what got me out to Los Angeles was actually a chance meeting with an acting coach who was rolling through town, giving seminars to kids about how to do a commercial audition. He had a play in town, at the time. So, we met and he gave me the best advice of my life, which was to come out to Los Angeles and try pilot season. I was incredibly lucky, my first season in L.A., to book a pilot with Chevy Chase for NBC. And, I just haven't looked back.

IESB: Did you realize, at the time, just how lucky that was?
Allison: Oh, I had no idea what a fortunate stroke of luck that was. I'd been told by scores and scores of adults, "Don't get your hopes up Allison. People spend years and years in Los Angeles and sometimes can't even get representation, so just be realistic about it."

So, I was, but a collective joy and will to succeed helped me out. Half of this business is being in the right place at the right time with a role that just fits you. When I was 11, I fit really well into the angsty middle child parts, so it was bound to happen.

IESB: How did you originally get involved with Warehouse 13? What was the initial appeal for you?

Allison: I got involved after Deric Hughes and Ben Raab, a couple of the writers in the writers room, got ahold of me. I'd worked with them, a year ago, on a web series with Rosario Dawson, called Gemini Division. So, they gave me a heads up about this character that was on the horizon. They said, "Allison, this part is so you. We'd love you to take a look at it. And, by the way, we'll mention you to our show runner, Jack Kenny."

Well, I worked with Jack Kenny five years ago, on the last pilot I did. So, I spoke with Jack and he sent me a copy of the pilot. He said, "Take a look at it. Make sure it's even something that grabs your interest." So, I watched the pilot, and I wound up watching it four times. I was so hooked on it because, as a girl who's maybe not been exposed to hardcore sci-fi all her life, it grabbed me.

It's not a straight sci-fi show. It has elements of sci-fi, but it's also really funny, and it's exciting and there is sexual tension and fantasy. It's a great flagship show for the new, re-branded SyFy Channel because it really does give you pause to imagine greater.

IESB: What did you specifically like about the character?

Allison: I was attracted to the character because Claudia is so strong, smart and sassy, and she has this great sense of humor to lend to a heavy moment. She can lighten a moment by a witty quip, but at the same time, she doesn't have a problem resting in the gravitas of what's going on, as you may have seen in the first couple episodes I did. She goes after saving her brother with incredible passion and gusto, and does not rest, even when it brings her to within an inch of her life. She finds her way into the Warehouse and becomes part of the furniture. I feel like Claudia is the kind of girl you'd want to hang out with, and that's what I liked about her so much. Not only was so cool, smart, strong and a real 3-dimensional person, I did get to play a bit of an alter-ego as well.

IESB: How much were you told about the character up front, and how much has developed from your own personality?

Allison: I was told everything about her backstory up front. The Claudia episode was extremely expository, as to Claudia's history. But, her assimilation as a family member, with the other characters in the Warehouse, took on a whole life on its own. I have to say that the writers have been fantastic. They listen to the way we speak and begin to write to our personalities. Saul will tell you that people ask him, "What's it like playing that character?," and he says, "Well, to an extent, we're playing characters. But really, when you're essentially making a 13-hour movie, you're playing a facet of yourself, just within a context of the character." So, there's a little bit of me, and there's a little bit of this sassy, spitfire, tech wiz.

IESB: How would you describe the relationship between Claudia and Artie? Do you feel like they're always trying to one-up each other, or is it more like they're sharing the old with the new, in regards to all the technology that they're exposed to?

Allison: It's absolutely both. It's not difficult to understand, even though it is a complex relationship. There's a little bit of father-daughter bickering going on. At the same time, they are competitors in the IT department. Claudia is the punk to Artie's steam, if you want to use the steampunk style as a benchmark. But, they also care about each other, as family members would, partially because of their history, and partially because of what they teach each other and learn from each other, every day, in the Warehouse. Claudia brings a very important skill-set to Artie's old, antiquated ways.

IESB: What's it been like to work with Saul Rubinek? Did you guys just instantly click with each other?

Allison: It's as much fun as it looks. We did instantly click. Saul is incredibly easy to get along with. He talks a lot. You can spend eight hours on set, and spend five of them talking to Saul, but it's cool. He also knows all of the good restaurants in Toronto, so I'll beguile him, if it means that he'll show me the best Italian restaurant on College Avenue. Every day on set with Saul is like attending a master class. And, he laughs at me when I tell him that, but he really is.

He's exactly the kind of actor I want to be. He's committed, in every way, to the integrity of the story, and he 100% cares about every aspect of what we're doing. He's hilarious. I have to say, I was nervous my first day, coming onto a show that was already a few episodes in, and working with someone as incredibly accomplished as Saul. But, he immediately put me at ease.

If it looks like we clicked, we did. We clicked immediately. We work together like we've been working together for 30 years. We've captured lightening in a bottle, or something. And, it's one of the most creatively fulfilling things I've ever experienced. He's an amazing individual. I feel incredibly lucky to have snagged a role opposite that guy. He's amazing.

IESB: How have Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly been to work with?

Allison: Eddie and Joanne are two of the coolest people I've ever met. Eddie is kind of like a 15-year-old boy. He keeps it light. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. We're like a family. If Eddie is the silly, jock, goofball brother; Joanne is the mature, over-achieving sister; I'm in the middle, as the angsty punk kid, and Artie is our presiding patriarch.

So, in addition to Claudia running tech interference within the Warehouse, she does go out in the field now, and she lends a street knowledge to supplement the Secret Service tactics of Pete and Myka. And, Claudia and Pete get on like a couple of grade-schoolers stuck in detention. They like to have fun, oftentimes grating on Myka's nerves.

IESB: What's been the most challenging aspect of doing a show like this?

Allison: While it was still tons of fun, the most challenging has been the physical demands placed on Claudia. I'd never done that much work with being harnessed up on a wire and flying around in front of a green screen, or running through the Warehouse, trying to save it before it explodes. There was one day on set, when we were at a location that looked incredible, and they were pumping steam into this well to make it look very humid and smoky, and I had to run across a catwalk and descend some stairs. Everyone warned me to be extra careful on the stairs, and I was like, "Oh, please. I've got it!" I did not, however. I was not careful enough on the catwalk, and during take one, my feet shot straight out from under me and I landed on my bottom. I could barely move the next day, but I came out all right. One trip to the chiropractor and I was fine.

So, that's been the toughest. But, honestly, you'd never hear a complaint out of me. I love this show and I love this team so much that, even if I'd worked 12 hours and they were ready to send me home, I'd sign out and get out of my wardrobe, but go back on set and just watch and hang with people, or run lines with Saul off camera, or watch the director work. We had a great cycle of directors come through, this past season. It's just really been a dream job.

IESB: Do you have a favorite gadget or artifact that's been on the show, that you wish was real and that you could have for yourself?

Allison: I loved Edgar Allan Poe's pen. That was probably my favorite artifact. It allows whatever is written to actually manifest. It's a sinister device, but so cool, especially for an Edgar Allan Poe fan, like myself.

IESB: Had you been a fan of sci-fi prior to this?

Allison: I'm just dipping my toes into the water of the genre. Besides growing up on Star Wars and loving Sigourney Weaver, I was new to the game. But, what's great about this show is that you don't have to love sci-fi to get behind it, really. I've just started reading graphic novels, and I'm really into that. And, I actually just got back from Vancouver, where I did an episode of Smallville, playing one of the Wonder Twins. So, it looks like I'm settling into genre for awhile.

IESB: For those who don't know, what is a Wonder Twin?

Allison: The Wonder Twins were introduced, back in the ‘70's, as part of the Super Friends comic, along with Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin. They're little teen wonders from the planet Exxor, who when they activate their powers together, the girl takes any animal shape and the boy takes any form of water. When you meet us on Smallville, we're just getting the hang of using our powers for good, and we're not particularly good at it. We have the best of intentions, and it blows up in our face.

IESB: What was the experience of doing Smallville like, and how was it different from doing Warehouse 13?

Allison: The difference between a show like Smallville and a show like Warehouse 13 is that this is Smallville's ninth season. It definitely has a formula and it takes itself a little more seriously than a show like Warehouse, where we don't necessarily have a formula beyond finding artifacts and putting them away. The possibilities are endless.

Whereas, when you're working with superheroes that have been established for decades, you do have to maintain a degree of rule-keeping, for the fans and for the integrity of the original story. With Warehouse, we've got something brand new and all its own. I had fun on Smallville, but it's a totally different world.

IESB: Are you just doing one episode on Smallville?

Allison: I don't know. I do not know what their plan is with the Wonder Twins. Although, if I did, I probably wouldn't give it away.

IESB: But, you will be returning for Season 2 of Warehouse 13?

Allison: Absolutely!

IESB: If the attention that you get from this show leads to film work for you, are there particular types of roles or specific genres that you'd really like to do, that you haven't gotten the chance to do yet?

Allison: Yeah. I wanna do everything. I would love to work with people like Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen. They are a couple of my favorites. I'm also really into period pieces and era pieces. I'd like to travel and go do a movie in Paris, or something. I want to continue to tell stories that are entertaining, compelling, heart-warming or scary, and play fully developed, three-dimensional characters. I always want a challenge.

WAREHOUSE 13 has its Season Finale on the SyFy Channel on Tuesday, September 22nd

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment