The cast and producers of the new SYFY drama series “Revival” gathered at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend to discuss the show, which airs new episodes on Thursdays at 10 pm ET/PT on SYFY. The series, based on the Image Comics series, centers on a town in rural Wisconsin where the recently deceased return to life, and a local officer, Dana Cypress, investigates a murder mystery amidst the chaos.
“Revival” Interview with the Cast at San Diego Comic-Con
Melanie Scrofano, Romy Weltman, Andy McQueen, and David James Elliott, the stars of the new SYFY drama series “Revival,” sat down for interviews at San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the show.
Romy Weltman and Melanie Scrofano Share Their Excitement
Melanie Scrofano stars as Officer Dana Cypress. She is also an executive producer on the series. Scrofano shared her excitement about working in the sci-fi and horror genres. Scrofano mentioned that she is interested in what genre storytelling can accomplish. It can deliver a message without making the audience feel like they are being preached to. She believes the most compelling message in “Revival” is about how people treat those they perceive as different.
Romy Weltman, who plays Martha “Em” Cypress, agreed, calling the show’s world a “gift” where more can be expressed and accepted. Weltman also emphasized the importance of responsibly portraying mental health issues on screen. For her character, who deals with addiction and other struggles, Weltman conducted research to understand what she was portraying. She feels grateful to be part of a show that tackles these conversations. Weltman added that her character is experiencing her emotions for the first time after years of numbing her pain.
There are so many deep, difficult human emotions and experiences that everyone is dealing with. Weltman explains:
A lot of research, honestly, for me, for Em, just because of all of her background with OI and addiction. It was really important to me that I understood what I was portraying on screen and I understood it to the best of my ability. Then on top of that, I think just any conversation around mental health needs to be done very delicately and appropriately. But it also needs to be talked about, and it needs to be seen on TV. It’s important. It’s real. We all like it. People deal with it, and we don’t know how people deal with it.
Scrofano mentions losing someone during filming. She gets emotional during the interview when talking about the importance of mental health and understanding one another.
I went without going into too many different… I will start crying. I lost a friend when we were shooting. Oh, sorry. So there wasn’t… It was interesting, though, because half the time I was like, ‘Oh, none of this matters. Like you can go at any time, and who cares?’ And weirdly, that like let me make it less scary because I was like, if I hope people like the show, but if they don’t, I’m alive and I’m healthy for now.
Furthermore, Scrofano described her on-screen relationship with Weltman as starting out with immediate trust. That trust only grew deeper. Weltman echoed this. They were on the same page from their first conversations about their goals for the show and their characters. Scrofano noted that for her character Dana, her duty to the badge does not take precedence over humanity. When there is a conflict between the two, Dana will always choose humanity, even if it gets her in trouble. Scrofano summed up her character’s priorities by saying, “Family first, human second, badge seventh.”
David James Elliot and Any McQueen Discuss Challenges on Set
David James Elliott, who plays Wayne Cypress, spoke about the challenges of his role. Elliott mentioned that his character is handed an impossible task and handles it “poorly,” making a lot of bad decisions despite coming from the right place. Elliott explained that he found out information about his character midway through the shoot that he felt “put him in a bad light,” and he had to find a way to make the character likable or at least understandable.
There was information about my character that I found out midway through. I’m like, oh, what are you kidding? I’m trying to keep this person a human and to be coming from a place of honesty. And then I’d find out about situations or things that he had done that I thought really put him in a bad light. So I had to find a way to, you know, internalize those, soften them, if you will, and keep him likeable or understandable at the very least.
He also drew on his own experience as a father of two to inform the character. Elliott noted that playing a character who is used to a regimented way of doing things but is then thrust into chaos was “great fun to play.”
Andy McQueen, who plays Ibrahim Ramin, discussed a specific scene from episode six where he acts against a “glowing alien.” McQueen revealed there was “nothing there” during the shoot except for a grid with a light. The final take used in the show was the result of them trying something different at the last minute. He also talked about his character’s “hilariously awkward” introduction. He said it was just as awkward to film as it appeared on screen. McQueen added that the awkwardness was helped by the fact that his character is awkward to begin with, and by having his co-star Scrofano to make the process professional and fun.
Elliott and McQueen both commented on the positive working atmosphere on set, with Elliott saying that everyone got along, which is “certainly not always the case.”
Where to Watch “Revival”
“Revival” is a new series that has new episodes airing on Thursdays at 10 pm ET/PT on the SYFY channel.
