Carl Beukes taps into his darker side
The epic supernatural sci-fi drama Dominion premiered on South Africa screens in January on M-Net Edge and South African viewers had a new international show to be proud of. The series, which was shot in Cape Town, stars none other than local hearthrob Carl Beukes, who taps into his inner dark child to channel evil Archangel Gabriel, who is determined to wipe out the entire human race.
A spinoff of the 2010 film Legion, Dominion sees Beukes joined by international stars Christopher Egan (Resident Evil: Extinction), Tom Wisdom (300), Roxanne McKee (Game of Thrones), Alan Dale (Lost), Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Luke Allen-Gale (The Borgias).
During its initial run on SyFy in the United States last year, Dominion averaged 2.7m viewers per episode and had more tweets than any other Thursday night drama series.
We sat down with Beukes to tell us a little more about the series and how he channeled his dark side for the role and this is what he had to say:
How did you get involved in Dominion?
I got involved with Dominion via auditions. My manager in Los Angeles sends me audition briefs for series’ in Los Angeles and my agent in South Africa, Moonyeenn Lee, records my audition here and sends it through to my manager there.
Tell me a little bit about the character you play?
Gabriel is an Archangel. He is fuelled by the hate for the human race as he blames them for his fathers absence. His ultimate plan is to wipe the entire race out so as to bring God back. He is a dark angel, but still loves his brother, Archangel Michael, who has taken the duty of protecting the humans from Gabriels wrath.
What attracted you the most about this character?
I like the mixture of Gabriels darkness and his charm. He is terrifying and yet, likeable at the same time. This makes him interesting and not just your typical badass.
We haven’t seen you in a lot of roles playing a sci-fi villain, what was the biggest challenge tackling the role of Gabriel?
The biggest challenge was actually to portray his darkness and yet be charming and likeable at once. It’s fun, but challenging.
Would you say there are any similarities between you and this character?
I guess there’s similarities with Gabriel and most people. We are, by heart and initially, good people, but through insecurities and agendas, we do very bad things. "Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions" – T.S. Eliot.
How did you prepare yourself for this particular character?
Way too intricate to go into.
Did it require quite a physical transformation in terms of fitness? What did you do to physically get into shape for Gabriel?
I generally like to keep in shape, but yes, a fair amount of weight training and cardio work was needed. Gabriel, in season 1, isn’t necessarily like his brother, Michael, as in the ‘warrior’ type. He is more the thinker and planner. although he is an Archangel, so I couldn’t walk onto set looking like I just came off Survivor.
Are you a fan of sci-fi? What is your favourite sci-fi film of all time and why?
I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge sci-fi dude. I enjoy it, but I don’t own any Star Trek episodes or anything. I guess my favourite sci-fi would be Aliens or Event Horizon or Signs or Last Night On Mars or something. I like sci-fi with a large horror element to it. I like anything with a large horror element to it.
Dominion features alot of internationally recognised names, what has been your experience of working with this cast and crew?
The cast is incredible. Most of us managed to hang out quite a bit during season 1. They’re ‘good folk’. All of them. We all appreciate what is asked from us and we all love our jobs and yet, we don’t take it too seriously. We like to have fun and yet we all realise where we are and what opportunities have been given to us. They are all good friends.
The crew is an incredibly hard working force of Dominion. From an actors ‘POV’, they’re all great to work with everyday and yet, there’s no doubt that they all know their jobs extremely well. #SAfilmcrewsrock
Which character other than yours is your favourite in the series and why?
I love William Whele and I honestly think Luke Allen-Gale kills it in the role. William’s so unpredictable and squirmy and yet, still likeable somehow. Maybe because I know that Luke is so much not like the character he plays. David Whele is also pretty darn scary. Again, I guess I am just attracted to the dark.
Alot of actors say its difficult to watch themselves, have you watched yourself in the series?
I have, but I hate it, although I think it’s very important to watch myself. I’m extremely hard on myself, but it’s because I know I’m right. If I don’t like something I do, I give myself quite a drilling, but only because no one else is going to. No one else is going to see what I see. But because I’m so hard on myself, I always remember my own critique. I never settle for the 2nd best in myself. Why would I?
What are some of your favourite scenes you’ve shot?
I can honestly say every scene I shot was heaps of fun. I remember a day in the desert to be my worst day on set as it was extremely hot and a very long day, but as for my favourite, I honestly enjoyed them all. Perhaps the ones with flying in them. Flying is ridiculously fun.
How much of what we see on TV is stunts, special effects versus real action?
There is a lot of real action by the actors, but also quite a few stunts. As for special effects, like CGI, I would say nearly every scene has animation in it. These artists are genius.
You’ve worked in theatre, TV and film, which would you say is most fulfilling?
They are all such different mediums. There is no way one can compare. The approaches and executions are all in different ball parks.
Dominion is part of a few international TV series to set up shop in SA, what does this mean for our local talent?
I think it’s just the beginning of local talent becoming part of the international industry. Shows like Dominion bring us opportunities to extend our platform to other parts of the world. This helps us be a part of story telling on an exponential level where the world is our audience and not just the country. We’ll learn a great deal this way, but also teach the world about our South African ways. It’s extremely exciting.
What can we expect from you this year? Any other projects in the pipeline?
Mums the word on any other projects right now. There’s nothing written in gold yet, so I’m solely focussed on second season of Dominion at the moment and will take other work in my stride as it approaches.
Check out the first season trailer for Dominion, which airs screens on Mondays at 8pm until March on M-Net Edge:
