Sarah-Jane Redmond

Ms Redmond was very excited and happy to have the opportunity to participate and interact with the  fan community through This Is Who We Are (TIWWA). And she is herself, a true fan of the entire show, as you will see from her praise for the show, and its cast and crew! I cannot tell you what an honor it is to have the opportunity to interview her.

 

I really want to take this opportunity to thank her for her generous and inspiring response to my interview questions! She obviously put a lot of time, though, effort, and detail into her responses, for which I am truly grateful and appreciative. I think you will be too!

 

I composed a lengthy list of interview questions/comments for Ms Redmond to respond to via e-mail. She responded in the format of a letter, rather than a question by question format, which I am please to bring you now.

Scott Pugliese

Sarah-Jane Redmond:

Scott,

…I am happy to participate and share my experience regarding as this was the experience that inspired me to continue in the field of acting, and taught me so many wonderful tools that continue to help me strive for the best.

I wanted so much to work on as I found Chris Carter a prolific and captivating writer, and was pleased to hear I had an audition for him, in an episode that David Nutter was to direct. I knew at the time that I felt very strong about the audition, and was suprised to say the least when the casting director called me at home. She said that they did not want to give me the part I had auditioned for, because they had a new re-curring character that they would like me to play. This was the part of Lucy Butler.

Lance Henriksen I simply cannot say enough about. I have worked with many ‘stars’, and Lance has been by far the greatest example of grace, talent, joy, commitment, and genourosity I have ever come across. At the time, I was considering not continuing my career, as I found television disheartening by the people I had been working with. It was nothing like the rush I had felt in theatre school, the rush of communicating with another actor, creating intensity and chemistry. When I worked with Lance, it was like lightening. He is so alive, so willing to play, and be challenged. I think that some found him intimidating, but if you can look him in the eye and ‘dance’, there is a respect that is formed, and then the stage is wide open to play, and create dynamic scenes.

Lance is one of, if not the, most giving, dynamic powerful, and daring actors I have thus far worked with. He came up to Vancouver to work on The Invitation, and I think I can speak for the other actors involved that it was such a joyful, pleasurable experience. It is clear to anyone who comes in contact with Lance, that he loves his craft, and his exuberance for life comes through in his work.

Of all the episodes I did, I think the first one (Lamentation) was my favourite. The first day, going to set, I had barely done any work previous to this part, and the scene required me to be interrogated by Terry O’Quinn and Lance, but I had to dance circles around them, so I had to control the scene. I honestly did not know how I would do it, but as soon as I got to set, the character takes over, and I found that I had more of Lucy in me than I realized.

The power felt natural and intoxicating, calm, yet the ‘fires of hell’ were burning, bubbling. It was also fascinating to get the moulding done for the face of the devil. It took 6 hours to apply, and I had a chance to go back to my trailer and work with the ‘mask’. What you find is that you can completely loose all other aspects of yourself, and you have the permission to go completely to areas you perhaps only touch upon in life. This was the dark side, for me. Which I enjoyed exploring immensely.

In regards to working with Terry O’Quinn more than once, I think that Mr. Carter has a certain style that he is drawn towards, and he just happened to like casting the same people. From what I know of Mr. Carter, I have never experienced anything but grace, patience, and perfectionism. He has specific ways in which he invisions, yet also giving the artist room to play, to create.

Harsh Realm was a character very close to what I sometimes like to wish I am like in reality, so it is just a matter of intensifying that fantasy. What I enjoyed the most about working on Harsh Realm was the science-fiction aspect, that within that universe that Mr. Carter created, anything was possible. Being limitless is within us all, and to be a part of that, even if in fantasy is thrilling.

Really though, it is just the fun of feeling like you are going to play everyday, not work. You ask about working on science fiction stuff – I am working on a new series, sci fi, that is a comedy, so this is again a new avenue. It is called ‘Alienated’ – you can look up the website, it airs on Space channel.

I think you would have to ask Mr. Carter in regards to if they had planned to introduce a character like Lucy before meeting me. I do get the impression, though, that he moulds his characters to what he sees within someone. I don’t know what that says about me… But I think it was the chemistry that Lance and I created that brought Lucy back. What amazed me when the show was cancelled was the tremendous amount of fan support, there was so much talk of trying to get it going again from the fans. I think that if there is one fault, of and Harsh Realm, it is that Mr. Carter does not assume like most other shows, that his audience is not intelligent. His concepts are complex, and that, to me, is what makes them so exciting to follow.

I took the time to answer your questions, because I am so proud of working on and the shows creators took a chance on me, and my career took off from that point. Lance taught me what a true ‘star’ is like – just like everyone else on set. And Mr. Carter is beyond his time.

Any more questions, let me know.

All the best,

Sarah-Jane Redmond

INTERVIEW SOURCE:

This interview is courtesy of Scott Pugliese at This Is Who We Are – Millennium Message Board.

INTERVIEW DATE:

30th July 2003