At SDCC, Temple of Geek had the opportunity to sit down with Actors Callum McGowan, Oliva Morris, Bluey Robinson, Jessica Green, Showrunner Dean Devlin, Lindy Booth, and Christian Kane of The Librarians: The Next Chapter to discuss their second season. The final two episodes air Sunday, September 6 and Monday, September 7 at on TNT. Get the behind-the-scenes scoop here before you finish the next adventure.

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The Librarian franchise celebrates the unsung heroes of public knowledge, truth-seeking, and curiosity. Though its iterations have had various gaps from the original films in the aughts, followed ten years later with its first television series, and presently the brand-new The Librarians: The Next Chapter, these hiatuses over such an extended period of time speak to the ongoing need of reminding us to celebrate knowledge; to make it cool again. And to make it cool again with magic.

We’ve excerpted some highlights from the interview below.

Smart is a superpower

In general, when we think of heroes, we imagine something outside of reality; something that someone who is merely ordinary could not achieve without some kind of paranormal assistance.

“From the very first movie, the thing that I loved about it is that they’re not bitten by a radioactive snake, they’re not from another planet. They just read a lot. And I love the idea of making smart people heroes for being smart,” Showrunner Dean Devlin said.

And this isn’t the only exceptional thing about the show: it also addresses some of the more nuanced cultural conceptions of what it means to be “smart,” demonstrated most basically in the pejorative of the “know-it-all.”

“Jake’s [Jacob Stone] character is a guy who likes to present himself like he’s a tough guy who hangs out at a bar,” Devlin continued. “He’s embarrassed about the fact that he has all these degrees, and he’s hiding that. So all these characters were able to be really well-rounded, interesting characters with the one commonality: they’re just smart.”

Methods behind the magic

In a Holmesian tradition (like Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary and The Martian), The Librarians’ science has a root in reality, which requires some mental acrobatics.

“I secretly love the scientific jargon. It’s complicated, but I think I love the challenge of it,” Olivia Morris, who plays Dr. Lysa Pascal, said. “I love the research of it. Again, we’re talking about learning, and I think I’ve learned so many insane things because when you research, there’s an amount of truth to it, right? It’s not completely made up, and so that makes it easier. Because if it was completely made up, it would feel a bit silly, and I probably wouldn’t remember it as well.”

But part of the charm of the show is, of course, its fantastic elements, but they don’t necessarily drive the narrative of the show. Some viewers (or at least this one) tends to imagine a writers room in which someone says “let’s make this one the flashback one!” or “let’s feature this monster!” The approach here is notably different:

“We don’t start with an artifact or a mythology,” Devlin said. We start with where we want to take the characters and what stories do we want to tell. And then we find the right mythology that fits it.”

“But we have an entire wall covered in 3 by 5 cards with all kinds of mythologies,” he continued. One of the things we wanted to do with this particular incarnation of the show was—because it takes place in Belgrade, Serbia—we wanted to try and do more of a focus on Eastern European folklore, the Drakamak and things like that, and introduce that to the audience.”

Christian Kane, on the other hand, has a dream of making beef jerky with a chupacabra and sitting down with a potentially invisible Bigfoot. (Editor’s note: excellent ideas.)

Special Guests

Dominic Monahan has been widely publicized as Merlin, but we’ve also confirmed that Jeremy Swift, Josh Gates, Ty Tennant, and Luka Divac are all guest stars the cast is excited about.

A self-admitted Lord of the Rings fan, McGowan reported that Monahan is great on set, and shared their experience addressing the elephant (ent?) in the room:

We always said when we met him, Right: Do not ask him about it. Do not ask about the Lord of the Rings for the first five minutes, just don’t do it. He must get it all the time. And we’re like, agreed, agreed, agreed. And then he walks in. Then Jess goes, “So what was it like filming Lord of the Rings?'”

Green clarified that this was after a day of filming, so as not to embarrass McGowan. (In the interview, he feigned a swoon.)

No spoilers allowed, but we’ve been promised that Monaghan’s performance will be worth the journey.

Best Mates and Minotaurs

As fans, whereas we love to see what happens on screen, we also nerd out about what happens behind the camera and in between takes. The camaraderie, mishaps, and playing a game apparently called “paper ball” all contributed to the onscreen chemistry, though it was organically immediate.

In affectionate jest, McGowan noted that it was “really tough,” Morris that she “hated these guys” and Green that they were “horrid.”

In reality though, Morris noted, “I think from the beginning we realized it was a group of people that didn’t know each other. We didn’t know each other, and suddenly we were thrust into a new country, a new city with each other, and we had to make it work. And that’s exactly what the cast did.”

Green added, “I feel like we just clicked though as well. And it makes such a difference. Like there would be nothing worse, like spending 16 hours a day with miserable people. We just like work with our best mates. We all get along so well. We all make each other laugh.”

There was also an incident with a minotaur. Kane recalls:

“The Minotaur is this hulking man with this huge head. Rebecca [Romijn] hadn’t seen it, and Rebecca is a very good guardian. Rebecca is very, very tough in what she does.”

“I saw it. I knew it, and it was scary. But it’s got to come around and look at us, and we’re all in the room. And I walk in, and Rebecca turns around, and that Minotaur is in the window of the glass, and she screamed like a little girl.”

Booth added, “Like, the wrong [scream]. It wasn’t [Eve] Baird screaming. It was a horrified, horrified, true reaction at this Minotaur coming in the window.”

“We all fell on the floor laughing,” Kane continued. “It took 30 minutes to get us all back into character because we were laughing so hard.”

The next adventure

Many franchises like this have reboots: we see the same story with a different take. The world of The Librarians, however, has a continuity to it, and one that doesn’t feel like the all-too-often stretch in an effort to keep the fans coming back for mediocre content.

“I think when the original show ended, it’s not like it had come to a conclusion. Fans wanted more. I wanted to make more,” Devlin told us.

“So I spent, you know, every day after that thinking, well, how can I bring it back, or how can I keep this world alive? And an opportunity showed up, and we did it. But it was really important that it wasn’t replacing The Librarians. It wasn’t rebooting the librarians. It’s just another story within the universe of The Librarians. In my mind, The Librarians has continued. We just haven’t watched those stories yet.”

There can be multiple interesting stories within this universe, and it’s just one of the most fun playgrounds I’ve ever played in. And so, to me, it’s not about how far or where does it go. It’s like, where can’t it go?”

We are looking forward to seeing where this season takes us. As our heroes in The Librarians: The Next Adventure lead us to yet-unexplored worlds, let them also remind you that you can find your very own superheroes, for free, in a city near you. (Yes, at the library.)

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You can read a transcript of the full interview below, edited lightly for clarity.

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Temple of Geek:
This is may be kind of a nerdy question, but when we think about stereotypical superheroes, we think of Captain America or Spider Man. We don’t tend to think of librarians, who truly are the kind of unsung heroes of academia and the public in general. I wonder if you could kind of all speak to what’s special about inhabiting the space of being a librarian.

Callum McGowan:
They can imagine themselves being a librarian because of their thirst for knowledge, and they’re wanting to explore the world in which they live. And you know, they don’t have two heartbeats. They don’t have you know superhuman strength apart from me, obviously. You know, just have to be dashingly handsome as well. No, but I think it’s that that it is so open that people can imagine themselves saving the world. But there’s something kind of inherently special about them, just their willingness to be to be brave and put themselves in difficult situations.

Olivia Morris:
Yeah, and the focus being on like learning, something about like not knowing everything and being willing to. You know, so many of our scenes are something happening and us getting around the table with a bunch of books, talking our thoughts out loud. And I love those scenes because they are, you know, they can be very plot heavy, but they can also be well at the crux. That’s a librarian’s job is to try and find somebody the answers and the book that they’re looking for. And I think, yeah, any time as adults, I love learning new things, but it can be scary because you can be bad at it. And as a kid, being bad at something isn’t terrible, but as an adult, being bad at something—I don’t know you—but I’m like I can’t be bad. But you know, in this show we lean on each other, and there are strengths and weaknesses of different people, and it just works. So yeah, it’s great.

Bluey Robinson:
And there’s something nice about these guys. You might know something in the beginning, and that we have no clue. You can learn, and you can find the answer, and you can lean on your fellow peers and stuff. You know, get that superpower, that super knowledge that you didn’t have before to help you solve, help you through it.

Press:
I have to ask: First of all, I love the series. It’s so much fun. But I have to ask Dominic [Monaghan] coming in as Merlin, what was that like to bring him into the side?

Callum McGowan:
[Sarcastically] Oh, he’s a prima donna, he demanded things . . .

Olivia Morris:
One of the worst people I’ve ever worked with.

Callum McGowan:
Just a bad person in general. [laughs] I don’t think I can’t see one redeeming quality? What’s one redeeming thing? He has nice hair, nice on set. No, he’s he was amazing. He was always great. We always said we met him, Right: Do not ask him about it. Do not ask about the Lord of the Rings for the first five minutes, just don’t do it. He must get it all the time. And we’re like, agreed, agreed, agreed. And then he walks in. Then Jess goes, “So what was it like filming Lord of the Rings? [all laugh]

Jessica Green:
No, I was like, I literally was like, “All right, guys. We’d spent like most of the day with him. We’re sitting there. It was chill, and I was like, “All right, we got to address the elephant in the room. All right, we all want to know. Tell us about it. Give us the story.”

Olivia Morris:
And he was—he was great.

Jessica Green:
This one [points to McGowan] was fangirling.

Callum McGowan:
I’m a massive fan. I’ve got a Lord of the Rings WhatsApp group with my friends.

Bluey Robinson:
So he was like, “Don’t embarrass me.”

Callum McGowan:
Don’t embarrass me!

Olivia Morris:
He’s in it about five or six times. Every time he comes back and films with us, it was just such a fun energy, and he just knew what the show was. You know, he just slipped right into it. He’s our kind of the antithesis. Like, he’s a challenge for us.

Bluey Robinson:
You know, for the group as well, the dynamics. Some of us [characters] are more open to it. Some of us are less.

Olivia Morris:
Yeah, and I think having him as almost like a plot device for our characters to sort of see how we handle someone that’s quite slippery, quite complicated, and the writers do a great job with this character. But you know, I think even the audience isn’t quite going to know.

Callum McGowan:
The payoff at the end of the series is really great.

Olivia Morris:
We can’t wait for you to see it. We’re so secretive.

Callum McGowan:
We haven’t said anything. Under pain of death.

Press:
So there’s no artifacts or things that you can talk about?

Olivia Morris:
Oh, I’m sure there are. What have we already talked about?

Callum McGowan:
I don’t know if we can say about them. That’s the only problem. What did we say earlier?

Olivia Morris: I know that I said earlier that we have Jeremy Swift, who’s an amazing guest star of ours, who is in Ted Lasso, and he comes in and he plays a genie.

Bluey Robinson:
So okay, great. So you’re sayin’ it.

Olivia Morris:
I’m sayin’ it! That’s episode two. That’s going to come out on the day after the first episode, so I feel like it’s free. And he is the funnest genie. He was such a hoot, and again, just like someone coming in with the most amazing energy that we all just got to like run with. You know, the four of us we worked together on every episode, and sometimes having a fresh new face and a new energy coming in is really useful for us because we get used to each other a little bit. And he was exactly like he was a breath of fresh air.

Jessica Green:
The guest stars this season are so much fun and yeah, they’re really some really great names and really funny!

All:
Josh Gates!

Olivia Morris:
He’s like the real-life librarian. That’s his actual job: looking for artifacts. So we were all very impressed with him. All very cool.

Callum McGowan:
But we can’t tell you anything! [sarcastically]

Olivia Morris:
That’s all you get.

Press:
Do you guys enjoy when you get to go to other like time periods?

Olivia Morris:
Yeah. Vikram has a really cool one this this season. Where a character that I maybe played last season . . . maybe . . . I don’t know. But anyway, but we go back in time and it’s very fun.

Bluey Robinson:
And the show is crazy as well because even as I watched some of the episodes that maybe I wasn’t in as much, and I go, this is completely different. You create a world and then it’s like this is a completely different show. We’ve transported the audience to a completely different time, different feel, everything.

Callum McGowan:
It feels like we’ve made 12 movies.

Bluey Robinson:
Every episode is kind of like its own little movie.

Olivia Morris:
Every time you read a new episode, you’re like, how do these people think of this? They’re just in the writers’ room comin’ up with madness.

Jessica Green:
Honestly I don’t know.

Bluey Robinson:
There are some episodes that the intro is like you wouldn’t if you were just casually watching it, you wouldn’t know it was a Librarian show. It’s for like a couple minutes in, seven minutes, and we think you’re watching something completely different. And he flips to us in the annex. He’s like, okay, what’s this magic happening now? What’s going on?

Press:
Now I know you guys are currently in season two, and you guys can talk about season three, but right. But I want to, because it’s my first time meeting you guys, so I want to ask, like, how has the fans responded so far about this spinoff? Because there’s always that comparison under the shadow of the original.

Callum McGowan:
No, we I think we were obviously a bit daunted about it at first because obviously the previous show was so successful and we’re kind of we are kind of on their shoulders in a sense. But the fans were really taken to us. I think they were rightly worried at first. They spoke to us at the other Comic-Con we did that that they were worried about the new cast because they got so attached to the previous incarnation, but actually we’re just so charming and amazing, and they really love us. No, but they really reacted to us well. They’ve been so kind and supportive of the show, so we feel very very kind of humbly included in this world now.

Olivia Morris:
Our characters are created by Dean [Devlin]. You know the characters that they loved from the original movie and the original TV show—it’s the same creator. So I think I felt at least a bit confident going in. This isn’t someone brand new trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s somebody who wanted to expand this universe, his baby and that’s why it’s so lovely having Lindy [Booth] and Christian [Kane] come join us because it’s like an affirmation and confirmation that these worlds are not separate. It’s not like their story is done and ours is begun. It’s all happening at the same time, and so it’s just so thrilling when we get to have them back. And it shows that we’re not trying to pull the wool over the audience’s eyes and be like, “We’re the new ones. It’s like, no, come and join this continuum. Like, I want you to come along with us.

Jessica Green:
It was a little bit daunting at the very beginning, but when we had our first screening and everyone stood up and like applauded us and like just opened their arms and welcomed us in and yeah, it was wonderful.

Temple of Geek:
This is kind of related. You have a panel after this. What are you most excited to see about the fans’ reaction? We’re showing some of this. We’re showing some of the episode, aren’t we? No, we’ve got

Callum McGowan:
I hope they cheer. [editor’s note: they did.]

Olivia Morris:
I think them getting to see Dom [Monaghan] in action is going to be such a treat.

Bluey Robinson:
They’ll see some of the guest stars as well. A nice little clip of Josh.

Olivia Morris:
And just all the like the madness. But again, like season one was us sort of like being introduced to the world, and it being this. Now we’re sort of we’re here, and it’s gotten bigger, it’s gotten bolder, it’s gotten more magical and more chaotic. And I think you’re going to see that through these clips, through all the amazing team that makes our trailers and our edits.

Callum McGowan:
And what they’re able to do on the kind of the TV scale, the TV budget, you know, you know, we’re a little bit like the little train that could compared to some of these other behemoths of shows, and actually the worlds, costume department, the set design, the writing, what they create is just as big as these huge shows that unlimited budget and everything else, and we kind of we match that I feel in our world building. So hopefully we get to see a bit more of that as well with you in the panel.

Jessica Green:
The little train that could.

Callum McGowan:
The little train that could!

Olivia Morris:
That did! That did!

Press:
The writing is so well done. It’s so good. To be on a show where you don’t get us like last minute. You’re able to really flesh it out and really learn your character. What is it like to be able to get those words on the page and be able to see where your characters are going and what the direction? How does that help with your acting?

Callum McGowan:
Well, I think I think our big difference, obviously, from series one to series two, is they know us now as well as we know them, and they’re kind they know our strengths and and everything else. They’re able to kind of work that. But we were saying earlier that they allow a space to improvise as well. That we we’ve now sat with our characters for a little longer. That we’re able to add our own bits on top of that, as well. It really becomes a process that we all share. But no, it is amazing when the scripts come through and you read them, and all we ever do is get excited and get on his feet and play and dance, and our input is you know they want to hear what we think as well. And if we have an issue with the script, they’re open to talking to us. We have the writers on set with us, and we change things. They’re not precious about their art.

Bluey Robinson:
They’re willing to be collaborative. You don’t always get that.

Press:
You all have such great chemistry with one another. Like, was that tough to find at first?

Callum McGowan:
[with jest] Oh, really tough.

Olivia Morris:
I hate these guys. [also with jest.]

Jessica Green:
Horrid. [with even more jest.]

Olivia Morris:
I don’t even know their names. We actually were just talking about it. We played a lot of games. I mean, you got to keep your energy up on a film set, obviously.

Jessica Green:
But they’re long days.

Olivia Morris:
We play a lot of games. We’ve got a game called . . . what did we call it?

Callum McGowan:
Paper ball.

Oliva Morris:
We call it paper ball? It’s called paper ball. Anyway, we would just take a piece of paper and scrunch it up and keep it up in the air.

Callum McGowan:
What’s the one we do as well? Were you have to do the hit?

Olivia Morris:
Ninja! Ninja. I think from the beginning we realized it was you know a group of people that didn’t know each other. We can have all the flowers for this, but it was playing what we were going through. We didn’t know each other, and suddenly we were thrust into a new country, a new city with each other, and we had to make it work. And that’s exactly what the cast did.

Jessica Green:
I feel like we just clicked though as well. And it makes such a difference. Like there would be nothing worse, like spending 16 hours a day with miserable people. So we’re so blessed. We just like work with our best mates. Like we all get along, you know. We all get along so well. We all make each other laugh.

Callum McGowan:
We also, when we’re finished on the weekends. We’re hanging out as well. So it’s like, yeah, we really are.

Temple of Geek:
Vikram started kind of—and this goes back to the different time periods—as like this 19th-century sort of lone wolf, kind of out of his depth. So what do you think his mindset is as he’s trying to adjust to this?

Callum McGowan:
I think he is still stuck in that mentality that we left him in. I think I said this before that kind of went through it in the first series emotionally and selfishly. It was kind of focused on his trying to get back and his relationship with Gregor and everything else. And but this series is these guys step forward and really shine. So I don’t hog the spotlight as much as I used to. So it’s about me sharing, like Vikram, that he’s no longer alone in this world, and he has to allow them to help him to grow. But no, yeah, I think in in that first episode, you’ll see the characters. We admit our deepest fears to one another, and throughout the series, you’ll see that. And I think Vikram still holds some of those demons from the previous series, so he’s not completely out of the woods just yet. And I think now that he’s gained something, the the stake to lose these guys is even higher. So you know he’s already lost his his partner and his child, and he doesn’t want to lose his newfound family either.

Temple of Geek:
The scientific and analytical background of these characters, and maybe how that appears in the show, and how that influences or informs what you bring as a team into the role.

Olivia Morris:
I secretly love the scientific jargon. Like it’s so complicated . . .

Jessica Green:
I am so grateful it’s not me.

Olivia Morris:
Yeah, it’s it’s it’s complicated, but I think I love the challenge of it. I love the research of it. Again, we’re talking about learning, and I think I’ve learned so many insane things because when you research what I’m talking about, it is there’s a amount of truth to it, right? It’s not completely made up, and so that makes it easier. Because if it was completely made up, it would feel a bit silly, and I wouldn’t probably wouldn’t remember it as well. But I love that she’s being able to be a part of this team, not through like the drawing, which is so useful, even the historical information and just the natural instinct that Vikram has. I think I really love getting to. I love that she makes apps, and she’s like, “Guys, I’ve made an app. Don’t worry. I think it’s such a funny, modern, uber modern thing that for it to have a place in this world always makes me giggle. But I also think it just, I don’t know, modernizes this.

Bluey Robinson:
That’s what you would think!

Olivia Morris:
It is! I like the logic of her, and I like the scriptwriters just do such a good job of utilizing her to the best of her ability.

Jessica Green:
And you’re very similar.

Olivia Morris:
Yeah, I’m a type A person to the max, so like she’s not that hard to play. And then I get a couple of lines of dialog, and I’m like, this is impossible. But I always get it out.

Jessica Green:
She does it with grace.

Olivia Morris:
I always get it out.

Temple of Geek:
What made right now the right time to bring back this spinoff do you think?

Dean Devlimn
I think that the reason now is the right time is because somebody would let me make it. Because every day is the right time for The Librarians. You know, it’s just what platform is ready to fund a new show. You know, I think when the original show ended, it’s not like it had come to a conclusion. Fans wanted more. I wanted to make more.

Lindy Booth:
We wanted to make more.

Dean Devlin:
So I spent, you know, every day after that thinking, well, how can I bring it back, or how can I keep this world alive? And an opportunity showed up, and we did it. But it was really important that it wasn’t replacing The Librarians. It wasn’t rebooting the librarians. It’s just another story within the universe of The Librarians. In my mind, The Librarians has continued. We just haven’t watched those stories, and you’ll see this season in the episode they do. It’s like, oh yeah, they’re on. They’re on their own adventures, and sometimes we’re going to collide with those adventures.

Press:
So, what has it been like for you, Lindy [Booth], to come back to this?

Lindy Booth:
Like so amazing. Like I would do it every day if I got to. It really was exciting. I mean, part of the fun of this is like literally what Dean [Devlin] just said is like the idea that he told me very clearly like Cassandra’s been doing this since we last saw her. So fill in the blanks. Who is she now? And and we had like in our series we had this like future version of ourselves. Cassandra was a wizard, had dragons, and we were like things had changed a little bit since then. So she’s not quite that woman, but she’s on her way to becoming something. So we found a beautiful middle ground for her in this amazing, like, just filling that blank in of what have you been up to? And as an actor, you never get to do that. Like the show ends and your character’s done. To fill in the blanks and be like, “What have I been up to?” was really fun, really amazing, and great to to just be back in the play box that Dean creates for us and work with this guy again was really a dream come true.

Press:
So who else besides Jake and Cassandra will be coming back? And is it all a matter of scheduling?

Dean Devlin:
It’s scheduling. It’s . . .

Lindy Booth:
Well, he can’t give everyone all at once, right? You gotta, you gotta spread it out a little bit. Spread the good stuff out a little bit.

Dean Devlin:
So, you know, Excalibur came back, and Cassandra came back, and Elliot came back, and Jacob Stone. Jacob Stone came back. Who knows who’ll come back? We’ll see.

Press:
The writing is so open. It is so good, so fun, and literally, how has it been like for kids who are into this, and now they see your show and learning the mythology that’s behind it?

Dean Devlin:
Well, one of the things that’s really unusual about this particular show is we have four showrunners in the room. Normally, you have a showrunner and a number two and a story editor and then junior writers. We have four showrunners. I mean, that’s incredible. So the level of talent is outrageous, and so when you put those people together, sparks happen. So I don’t know if I’m answering your question, but it’s just-it’s such a thing. It’s not-it’s not a room like any I’ve ever been in before, because any one of these four could be running the show, and two others who have not run shows could be running shows. So it’s just this insanely high level.

Christian Kane:
It’s an embarrassment of talent. Yeah, it’s just riches.

Lindy Booth:
And they write these incredible stories, right? That really are for everyone. And so the idea that kids are finding this show, well, kids who are watching our show, or who are watching the movies, are now able to watch this show with their kids, and the idea that like grandmas, kids, parents, teenagers, anyone can watch this show and find something that they relate to, find something that makes them laugh or makes them feel something, is what makes this world and these writers so incredible.

Dean Devlin:
I don’t know if Bluey told you this when you were talking to him, but when he first got cast in this, he had not seen The Librarians before, but he told his mom, and his mom lost her mind. She goes, “Oh my God, The Librarians, The Librarians! You’re on The Librarians!?” He’s like, “I guess I should watch The Librarians.”

Press:
So, is there any like piece of mythology that you haven’t been able to do yet that you wanted to?

Christian Kane:
There were hundreds.

Lindy Booth:
Hundreds?!

Dean Devlin:
So we don’t start with an artifact or a or a mythology. We start with where do we want to take the characters and what stories do we want to tell, and then we find the right mythology that fits it.

But we have an entire wall covered in three by five cards with all kinds of mythologies. But one of the things we wanted to do with this particular incarnation of the show was because it takes place in Belgrade, Serbia, we wanted to try and do more of a focus on Eastern European folklore, the Drakamak and things like that, and introduce that to the audience.

But even the old show and the new one—it’s always a show where after people watch it, they go on Google to say, “Is that a real thing? And then they’re always surprised that it kind of is. We changed it a little bit, but it’s kind of a real thing.

Christian Kane:
Are you asking us like what we would like to find? Was maybe I misread the question? I mean, I would, I would like to, I would if I would like to go. I think there’s. I think that Bigfoot should come into somewhere. You know what I mean? I think Bigfoot can talk, and I think you know it’d be funny if we actually sat down and had a conversation with him. He’s like, you know, but maybe he’s not. Maybe no one else can see him. Maybe she shows up, she can’t see him. I’m having a conversation. It’s like, oh, this is it. But my favorite thing in the world is the chupacabra. I had a chupacabra. I guess I befriended a chupacabra, and he was cooking with me. And Jonathan Frakes (director), you know, number one on Star Trek, didn’t understand the concept. We were all laughing on the floor because I said, “I’m making beef jerky with the chupacabra. He’s like, “Are you going to eat the chupacabra?” I said, “No, I’m making beef jerky with the chupacabra.”

Lindy Booth:
He thought it was a cannibal situation. We were eating him.

Christian Kane:
No, I’m making it with the chupacabra. And I’ve asked Dean for years and years, and we have the technology now. I really want to see him hanging out with this chupacabra, and it would be our rendition of the chupacabra, whatever we wanted to do. But I just like comes downstairs, and Jacob’s just like, “Don’t put that. I told you to wash the dishes. You can’t, you know. And it would just be so much fun. So I’ve got an idea. I’m going to pitch it to him.”

Lindy Booth:
I will say, for me as a fan, I’m actually excited to see the season because Merlin is a favorite character for me, favorite mythology story for me. I I’m really looking forward to watching this.

Christian Kane:
And you couldn’t have a better person than Dominic [Monaghan] play it. I saw some of the stuff he did. He’s just fantastic in it, man.

Temple of Geek:
In a show with so much mythology and stunts, one must imagine that there are some mishaps behind the scenes, behind the camera? Is there anything you can tell us about maybe the funniest mishap?

Lindy Booth:
For me, hands down, the day the magic doors opened in instead of out, because they came right at us. We’re always standing like right behind the doors, waiting to like come through them, like the heroes that we are. And one day, Wayne had accidentally strung up the doors to open inwards, and so when they yelled action, we ran, and the doors came back in. Yeah, it was not great.

Christian Kane:
There’s this story. She’s [Booth] gonna hate me telling this, but we’re gonna tell it anyway because we laughed on the pump. I’m telling it.

Christian Kane:
So I had walked in. I had walked in to set, and they were already in the room. I see the Minotaur. The Minotaur is this hulking man with this huge head. Rebecca hasn’t seen it, and Rebecca is a very good guardian. Rebecca is very, very tough in what she does.

Lindy Booth:
And an excellent actress. And very serious.

Christian Kane:
I saw it. I knew it, and it was scary. But it’s got to come around and look at us, and we’re all in the room. And I walk in, and Rebecca turns around, and that Minotaur is in the window of the glass, and she screamed like a little girl.

Lindy Booth:
Like the wrong [scream]. It wasn’t [Eve] Baird screaming. It was a horrified, horrified, true reaction at this Minotaur coming in the window.

Christian Kane:
And we all fell on the floor laughing. It took 30 minutes to get us all back into character because we were laughing so hard, man. So that was that was one of the funny ones.

Press:
Can you talk about some of the guest stars that you had this season, and was it were people asking you to be on the show?

Dean Devlin:
Me? No [laughs].

Lindy Booth:
I was!

Dean Devlin:
No one wants to see that, but we have great guest stars this year. We talked about Dominic Monahan, who’s spectacular as Merlin. Josh Gates is a guest star this year.

Christian Kane:
I got to work with Jeremy Swift from from Ted Lasso, he was fantastic. The character he plays, he plays a genius.

Dean Devlin:
David Tennant’s son plays a role this year. Vlade Divat’s son has a very small part this year. Just really phenomenal guest star.

Christian Kane:
He [Devlin] creates a show where people want to come and work. All the shows he’s ever done. Everybody wants to come and work. We had amazing guest stars on. We had Sean Astin. We had all our friends came. You know, and it creates an environment where you want to come because, as you said, it’s fun to be in that sandbox. It’s really, really fun to play there. And so people just want to come and do it. And also, you get to be something that you’ve never been before. This is not CSI. This is not who murdered and who did it was. Put them on trial.

Lindy Booth:
Yeah, no one is like the guest star the week, the victim of the week. It’s just like it’s wild imagination, and nothing is is off limits. Like we, Dean gives you the freedom and the and the empowerment to try something new, to try a new accent. I mean, there were times where you’d be like, “You’re gonna play the Queen of Hearts.” I was like, “Great, this is how I’m gonna sound,” and everyone was like, “Ooh, interesting choice.” You know, like you just you have the freedom in this world to to do anything, and like it’s really what makes The Librarian so special to me is that it is awesome.

Christian Kane:
There’s there’s a situation to where—I’m gonna go back to what he [Devlin] said—there’s a situation where I’ve worked with someone before and I couldn’t say “I’m going to the bathroom. I’m I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.” It’s like no, the line is “I’m going to the bathroom now.” And I’m like I just fucking said that. You know what I mean? But it had to be scripture. He [Devlin] has four showrunners in the room, and they still allow us because he’s an actor as well. They still allow us. They want us to get from A to B, but they don’t mind if we go to C and sometimes drop down to G. But we still have to get to B, and we try to do that. There’s some creativity there that they have allowed us. Some of the smartest people in the room, the best writers I’ve ever worked with allow us to go off of what they thought, you know, what they write. They let us play characters.

Dean Devlin:
And with AI we can make the line go back the way we want.

Christian Kane:
Exactly.

Dean Devlin:
Kidding, kidding, kidding.

Christian Kane:
But it’s so much fun to be able to play in that thing and also be able to play 15 feet off the floor, you know what I mean? It’s not grounded. It’s making.

Temple of Geek:
I asked an iteration of this to the other group, but thinking about the freedom and thinking about the playfulness. The librarian is not a typical hero. Can you talk a little bit about what drew you to that? It’s not a who-dunnit, it’s not a murder mystery.

Dean Devlin:
From the very first movie, the thing that I loved about it is that they’re not bitten by a radioactive snake, they’re not from another planet, they just read a lot, and they retain a lot of information. And I love the idea of making smart people heroes for being smart. I like what it says. And you find that you know you can have characters that are surprising who are smart. I mean, Jake’s character is a guy who likes to present himself like he’s a tough guy who hangs out at a bar, and he’s embarrassed about the fact that he has all these degrees, and he’s hiding that. So all these characters were able to be really well-rounded, interesting characters with the one commonality: they’re just smart.

Press:
And that leads to my question because you don’t see that that much on television, and that’s what I appreciate: seeing smart characters, smart stories on television. Where would you like to see this go? Like in the next three years.

Dean Devlin:
Well, you know, honestly, for me, it’s just can we get it exposed to enough people? Can enough people see it? Because we tend to have an insanely loyal fan base. I mean, it’s kind of crazy, but it’s hard. You know, we’re the only scripted show on TNT. You know, and you you mentioned The Ark. That’s the only scripted show on Sci-Fi Channel. When a channel only has one scripted show, it’s hard to have your show promoted because there’s no other show to promote it on. So, you know, thank you for being here today. You know, we’re here trying to get the word out. But to me, the more people who fall in love with this franchise, the more versions we could make, and ultimately, where would I like to go? I’d like to go back to the beginning. I’d like to put the original cast together because we’re . . .

Lindy Booth:
. . . because we’re all having fun today.

Dean Devlin:
And say, look, look what’s going on there. But I’ve looked at this really in my head, kind of like what Marvel has done, or what they’re trying to do with Star Wars, that there there can be multiple interesting stories within this universe, and then watching them intercollide, it’s it’s just one of the most fun playgrounds I’ve ever played in. And so, to me, it’s not about how far or where does it go. It’s like where can’t it go?