It’s time to chart a course to space The Orville third episode. Seth MacFarlane stars as the eponymous starship captain Ed Mercer in this sci-fi comedy, as they venture through space to explore new worlds and confront various threats.
Despite Fox renewal, show has been off the rails for too long The Orville Season 3 in May 2019. After going off the rails and setting course again, the show returns in a new form, The Orville: New Horizons On the gourd.
Before the show returns, screen rant Specialized with The Orville Stars Jessica Szohr and Anne Winters discuss the latter as newcomer, how Szohr welcomes her new co-star to the cast and what’s in store for Season 3.
Screen Rant: This Season The Orville The partnership with Hulu is pretty exciting, and the new tone is a little more serious than before. Annie, your character is indeed a fun new addition to the cast. I don’t want to say anything bad about her because she’s very sympathetic, but for you, with such a complex character, are you really going down that path?
Anne Winters: I think I really found where she was coming from. In my opinion, it felt very real in the beginning, which made her arc very important. I’m glad you guys can see what I’m talking about.
She was definitely the only survivor of the Battle of Chiron, so it was a huge weight on her shoulders. I think that’s definitely her mindset going into this new team and then her conversations and everything she has with Isaac. Obviously, she doesn’t like him, but I think she ends up learning a lot with the new cast of The Orville, which might make her a little different by the end.
Even though she was very hostile to Isaac, what was it like for you and Mark to work together and find a rapport off-camera before entering each scene?
Anne Winters: I love Mark. It’s always a funny thing with actors because you love someone off screen and then you have to really hate them and feel bad for being so mean and then be like, “Oh, I’m sorry, don’t Accept that it’s personal.”
Also, it felt weird working with a robot for the first time because it was literally eye contact with someone as an actor. It’s so strange to look into two blue eyes and see there’s a person inside them worth hating. But without that eye contact, it’s weird, so it’s definitely challenging. But Mark is great. I love everyone on the cast and it’s great to be joining this new cast.
Jessica, this is only your second season. How does it feel that you’re not coming back as a new character?
Jessica Szohr: I’m excited about the way these scripts are coming together and the storylines and themes we’re playing with in this space world. I feel like we should go deeper and then we let the audience draw their own conclusions about what we’re talking about and exploring and touching on. I think this is a very beautiful thing. I’m so excited that we get to come back and work with you all and perform with these amazing actors in these breathtakingly beautiful scenes.
Then Anne comes on the scene, and what she brings to the table—of the ship, of the character—is flavor. These layers are so delicious to play with and watch, and I’m so excited for everyone to be on this journey with us this season. They’re like mini-movies and a lot of us are on board.Boat [itself] It’s evolved, all of our storylines and characters have evolved, and it’s been spectacular. As I look at these, I don’t know what words can describe it other than majestic. It brings you in.
There are moments – and this is going to sound super weird because I play an alien and I think of myself as an alien – this is a science fiction show, but all of a sudden we’re in the middle of the forest and we’re here High school, it amazes me that we lived on this spaceship for a second. So I always think being an actor and being able to do a show on Hulu with Seth MacFarlane, the creator, is the most wonderful thing because we get to branch out and do all these things.
Anne Winters: They can write anything and everything can make sense or be written in space because there’s really no limit.
Jessica Szohr: I think that’s amazing and beautiful. It was also very challenging, some of the dialogue and sightlines were like looking at a green screen and I was talking to John but I was actually talking to a bright red X in the middle of the room. So to really figure out that pattern and beat so that it still looks organic, like I’m talking to another person or an actor or an alien, can be challenging at times.
But all in all, when you see the finished product, everyone really brought their A-game and it was a really nice experience. The only disappointment is that it took so long to come out, but that’s because we didn’t know the world was about to shut down and such. So I’m glad it was worth the wait and I’m really excited for everyone and we have to do this in the safest way possible.
From what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s definitely worth the wait. Now that you did mention the evolution of characters and storylines, I’m curious about Chiali. Last season we saw her bond with Lorkar in that episode, and since then, we haven’t really seen her have any kind of partnership. Can we explore that further this season?
Jessica Szohr: Yeah, Tara has some interesting storylines. [Laughs] I know we can only talk about certain things. Her career went through many ups and downs, and Ed found more trust in her and gave her more responsibility. But between her personal life and work, it’s been an interesting journey with Tara this year. I’m so excited for everyone to see it, I can’t say more.
It was also fun to work with them and go back to New York, where we are now. That set is beautiful. That’s what I mean with this show, I’m going to New York, I’m going to take dance classes. It’s been a really great ride.
Annie, I know you developed a strong bond with Scott Grimes’ character Gordon in the first episode. What was it like for you to work with him, especially since he’s now a Seth MacFarlane veteran?
Anne Winters: I loved sitting next to him, it was funny, albeit dangerous at times, because if you were doing something serious on camera, he would make you laugh at the most unwarranted moments. A lot of times, a lot of us don’t even have lines to say, but we’re fighting or we’re doing something and we have to have these serious faces. I swear, it’s one of those days where you feel a little stupid, but you know it’s all going to come together. He just knew how to make a joke, and I just couldn’t keep a straight face.
It’s been challenging, to be honest, but we have a great relationship both on and off the show from a fun and companionship standpoint.
Do you find that intimidating, though, since he had this relationship with Jay for most of season 1 and 2?
Anne Winters: I don’t know. I think, but I also think it’s an opportunity to go in and create something new. People ask about intimidation; I feel like as an actor you’re constantly acting with different people that you’ve met or respected, and it’s intimidating until you get there. Once I put on the uniform and got into character, everything was out of my head. I thought, “This is me, this is me, I’m sitting next to you for a reason. It took me a long time to get here, audition after audition, meeting after meeting. Here I am.”
Jessica Szohr: I also think that if there’s – I don’t know if the word is “intimidation” – you just bring it into the scene and make it like, “I’m not going to let It affects what I get going on here.” Because like you said, you work so hard and finally get a chance to work with great actors. There’s definitely nerves and all that stuff, but I think when you have any type of feeling, my job is to try to bring that to the scene.
Anne Winters: Plus, Scott made everything very comfortable. It was easy to get into that scene and feel at home.
Jessica Szohr: The year before I came in, I was you, and everyone was so welcoming and so nice. But she also, and I wish I did too, you really have to come in and be prepared to understand the conversation. Obviously as an actor you have to know the dialogue for anything you do, but it’s very specific.
We started with a mini dictionary [scripts], there are different layers, the sightlines, the green screen, it’s not like you go to a set and have dinner with friends. You’re in space, you’re in combat, you have different sights, there’s a lot going on, so you have to be ready, and she was ready to go. So if there was any intimidation, you certainly didn’t see it.
Anne Winters: My gift as Charlie is to be able to see things in four dimensions and bring in a very clever mathematical element to that. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and I was like, “I’m going to take a physics class or try to learn a little bit of what Charlie knows.” Let me tell you, this Charlie girl is so smart. I hope one day I can truly understand, even just the tip of the iceberg, what she did. But I think I performed really well.
Since it’s such an interesting environment, as you both said, for the cast and crew, is there room for everyone to improvise in these scenes? Or is it really on the page?
Jessica Szohr: I think it depends. I think most of the time, it’s on the page because it’s very specific to what we’re talking about. Not just because Tara is the Xelayan there, but when we’re in combat and all of this – you have to speak in certain ways and you have to use certain terminology because that’s what we’re doing.
I feel like I always really like what’s on the page unless Seth and I have spoken before, if we hear it read at the dinner table and don’t like it, or speak before a scene and say, “Hey, let’s Change it this way.” Then you go into the little video village and change it for them. For me, I think I already liked it, but Tara also had a very specific tone and what she was talking about. I don’t believe there’s a lot of room for me to improvise. You know what I’m talking about?
Anne Winters: Yeah, me too, but I can maybe see it in those light-hearted conversations or in the cafeteria. You can probably make small talk, but I’d like to say that I already love this page. Season 1 – I’m just guessing; I wasn’t there – I suspect there was probably more improvisation.
The Orville: New Horizons summary
Set 400 years in the future, The Orville: New Horizons finds the crew of the USS Orville continuing their mission to explore the mysteries of the universe and the complex relationships between them.
Check out our other interviews The Orville: New Horizons Starring Scott Grimes and J. Lee, as well as Adrianne Palicki and Penny Johnson-Gerald.
The Orville: New Horizons Premieres on Hulu on June 2.